Today is the day of rain.
No fire here.
Just droplets everywhere. Falling down, bursting over the landscape, painting the skyline over in dark shades of blue, black, and purple.
The water stings my cheeks. I don't mind.
It is a friendly sting. It means cleanliness: a chance at a new beginning. It means hope. And most importantly, it means life.
For the small town of churchville(need a not lame name), it means something entirely different.
Water droplets skid across the asphalt, collecting into a sheen as it tries unsuccessfully to penetrate the dark expanse of the road. My t-shirt is soaked through, and still the water streams down my body, flicking from me as I pass. Once again, I don't mind.There's something refreshing about the feeling of the water streak across my skin.
Today is the day of rain: and it makes me feel alive.
I hear the crunch of asphalt under tires and feel the gaze of the headlights on my back as a car slowly rolls to a halt behind me. I turn, shielding my face from the light with one hand, the other still carrying the shovel slung over shoulder. The lights die, but the engine remains purring. I squint through the pouring rain, blinking away raindrops and peering out past my wet mop of curly brown hair as the driver slowly rolls down his window.
"Hey, need a ride?" a familiar voice calls out. A head is peaking out of the driver's side window. It's Jeb. A friendly man, if twice my age and set in his ways.
"No thanks, I'm good," I call back, already turning away, anxious to finish my journey down the road.
"Suit yourself."
The window slides back up, the headlights flick back on, and I watch it for a moment as it passes by, engine rumbling and tires complaining on the slick asphalt.
I'm left alone in the rain. That's how I prefer it. Just water, sky, and earth watching me.
I trudge on, my boots splashing in puddles and sticking in mud.I pause for a moment to breath in the taste of rain and smell of the world.
This is how it's supposed to be. I continue, feeling the pulse of the sky beat gently on my skin.
By the time I reach the edge of our little farmhouse, it's stopped raining. Instead the sky is still, the world brushed only by the passage of the wind. The silence is a pregnant one; composed of the song of the field and the squelch of my feet in the mud.
The sky has spoken; there's no room for words right now.
To most, it's misery. To me, it's a symphony.
Katherine is waiting for me outside the barn. Her rain jacket is slick with precipitation, her hair glistens with crystal raindrops and her face is flushed from the cold of the storm.I smile at her and she smiles back.There's no need for words right now, and as I trudge exhaustively towards the barn I stop, turn, and lean down to kiss her. She kisses me back, and for a second we smile using out eyes.
Like I said, there's no room for words right now.
I've never been much for words anyway.
I let out my breath in a weary sigh as we separate. I'm already moving into the warm barn, finally feeling the weight of exhaustion and the chill of the storm in my weary bones. I shiver as I put away my shovel under the watchful gaze of two thoughtfully chewing cows. Katherine follows me in, and as I sit down to catch my breath against the barn wall, she walks over to me and kisses me gently on the forehead.
"Dinner's ready at the house," she murmurs.
I grunt. Suddenly, I'm too tired to respond.
She stands there for a moment, looking down at me, a grin playing across the corner of her lips. Then she lets out a resigned sigh of her own.
"It's getting late, you know. My Dad still needs my help with the little ones tonight." she grimaces, "His back and all."
I nod back, still trying to catch my breath. In hindsight, maybe I should have accepted that ride home. It would have at least given me more time with Katherine.
"Well...I'll see you around then." she says, her hands in her pockets.
I nod again.I understand.
Around here, there is always work to be done.
She waits a moment more to make sure I don't have anything to say, then ruffles my hair and moves to leave.
I find my voice as she finds the door.
"Katherine?"
She stops, her hand frozen in the air next to the door handle.
"Yeah?"
"Thanks for waiting for me."
She turns to look at me, and our eyes meet. An understanding passes between us. Her face lights up slowly, like a southern sunset.
"You're welcome, Sam."
And then she's gone.
I sit there for a moment, grinning to myself like an idiot, still watching the smile spread across her face in my mind's eye.
Then I stand up, hose off my boots, and get ready for supper. Like I said before, there's always more work to be done around here.
