The Rain (A Short Story)

The Rain

A/N: This is just a random little story idea I got recently...I don't know if it's gonna be good at all but we'll see. Thanks so much guys! Let me know if you like it!

Pluviophile  (n) a lover of rain; someone who finds joy and peace of mind during rainy day

  

It's no question to say the rainy climate of Seattle suited Nicola. She always was the creative type, having an immediate desire to create every time she got a simple idea. Everything from writing and drawing to creating short films. Nicola had aspired to go to art college ever since she had visited her aunt's studio, a place that was always bathed in colors and different textures. Creativity and the love of rain ran in the family, considering that both her parents had made a living on art and imagination. Being convinced that art was her calling, she had taken the leap from a little town in suburbia California all the way to Seattle as soon as high school ended. Nicola was convinced that her future and creative calling lay in the rainy climate that inhabited Seattle. 

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It was a rainy day like no other, the soft tapping on the studio apartment roof, giving Nicola a calming presence as she worked on yet another required art piece. Not that it bugged her, but it was incredibly hard to come up with a creative masterpiece on the spot. She sighed, stepping back to look at the abstract shapes she had created. It was like a watercolor, shapes and pigments blending into each other. The assignment was supposed to be an "abstract with meaning" but, in spite of the deemed perfection in her eyes, something seemed to be missing. Along with the rain, there was something else that inspired Nicola...it was the british accented ideas of her roommate.

Padding her sock feet through the apartment, Nicola called out the name of her influencing friend, "Thalia?"

"Yes? I'm in the bathroom." Thalia's accent rang out from the end of the short hallway. 

Nicola cautiously opened the white door to reveal Thalia's slender form that was straightening her hair. "You look very nice. Do you have a date with Robert?" She said, mentioning Thalia's boyfriend of three years. 

"Yup. We're going out with his parents again. Apparently they've got reservations at this really fancy restaurant down by the waterfront." Thalia said excitedly while shutting off her straightening iron and setting it in a safe place. "What did you need help with?"

"Well...I'm finishing an abstract painting for Art 201 and I feel like it's missing something. Can you take a quick look before you leave?" Nicola asked shyly, staring down at her feet. 

"Yeah! I was on my way out anyway." She said with a big smile on her face. "Anything to help a fellow art major." 

"Okay, cool." Nicola said again, shuffling out of the doorway and following Thalia to the art studio. 

Thalia's high heels clicked above the dripping rain as she made her way to the studio. Nicola shadowed her gorgeous roommate as Thalia made her way around the painting, giving a few 'hmms' and 'oh's as she gazed at the brush strokes. 

"It's supposed to be an "abstract with meaning"...if that makes any more sense." Nicola said, suddenly getting uncomfortable in her paint stained smock and messy bun compared to her formally dressed roommate.

"I think you're right." Thalia finally said after a few moments of silence. "It's a masterpiece but there is something missing... I can't quite place it though." 

"What do you reccomend I do?" 

"Cup of tea, nap, free write or dance in the awful rain that's pelting the garden... that usually helps me." Thalia mumbled. 

"Okay." Nicola said, taking off her smock to reveal a white tee and printed scarf with ripped shorts. 

"I should probably get going." Thalia said, slipping out of the study and shrugging on her black trenchcoat and a scarf. 

"Have fun!" Nicola shouted from the studio while staring at her painting. 

"Thanks! I'll see you tonight and bring back some leftovers for dinner!" Thalia's accent spoke from the living room and then was gone with the sound of a door shutting. 

Almost immediately when Thalia left, that indie music began softly leaking from vintage speakers and a pot of tea was on the stove. Tea and music was always the solution to any stressful situation...it was a rule that Nicola lived by. 

After a few minutes of intently listening to music and sipping her tea, there was a sudden break in the rain. Usually there wouldn't be a break in the rain for several days or hours. Although the rain had stopped, a magical feeling lingered in the pit of Nicola's stomach. A feeling that was indescribable, it seemed to be a cocktail of wonder and pure joy....something that she hadn't felt before. Nicola thought back to Thalia's advice to go into the garden. She then found herself rising to put boots on and step out into the garden. It wasn't very large, just big enough for a vegetable plot, along with the occasional furniture items that were brought outside during the less rainy summer months. 

The dew that soaked the grass drenched Nicola's boots and clung to her hair, making the once straightened strands curlier. It was beautiful in a strange way, the overcast sky and vibrant city lights that glowed against the darkening sky. The air had changed in an unusual way, making the city lights seem glorious and messing with Nicola's head a little. She was swiftly overcame with questions that couldn't be answered. What would it be like to fly? What could I do if I knew I wouldn't get hurt? What would life be like if I hadn't come to this college?  

All at once, the feeling left her body and was immediately replaced with the soaking rain. The rain seemed different than the rain she had experienced in Seattle so far...it was...sticky. Becoming moved by the strange chain of events, a fragmented memory came to Nicola...

~A little boy calls out to Nicola from the living room, jolting her from sleep. Nicola must be at least ten at this time, the little boy being her six year old younger brother. A independent tapping replaces the sound of sleeping breaths. 

"It's raining Nicola!" The little boy screams in delight and begins jumping on top of her.

Despite living on the West Coast, rain seems to be absent in Southern California...so the presence of rain is greatly appreciated when it does come. 

"Well! Let's go outside and play then!" Nicola says in delight, all grogginess fading away. 

The little boy laughs again and slowly his voice fades out.~

Tears were forming on Nicola's lashes now, the painful memory of a lost family member haunting her. Nicola attempted at a smile and subconsciously stuck her tongue out to taste the rain, like she and her little brother used to do in older times. It brings a achingly delightful surprise when the rain tastes different. It's sickly sweet and bubbly, tasting of the sparkling cider that was a family tradition during holidays at home. Nicola rushes back inside to her painting, leaving the door open and a damp trail behind her. She finally knows what she's been missing...