[OLD VERSION -- READ THE NEW ONE PLEASE] Crocodile Tears

Rain

Promises are little more than kind lies.

For so long I have searched for the red string that binds us together for life and death. But I am condemned to a life of immortality on the moon while you wander the streets of the underworld palace. Over and over again you forget me. I lose you over once and once more.

To an outsider, perhaps the forest of peach blossoms may seem like paradise. Everywhere visible to the human eye is carpeted by soft pink petals, and the grotesque world is at least temporarily hidden away from view. These petals flutter in the air like carefree spirits, dancing and twirling in the embrace of the air before resting on the ground only to be swept up again in a frenzy.

But they don't know about the years of happiness entombed here. They don't understand that this is the final resting place for sweet memories and him; buried under the shadows of the shortest tree is a coarse stone urn. The wilted flowers are his blanket, and the earth is his bed - her childhood's grave.

"They left today...they're never going to come back," she whispered to the tree, "You lost. You promised me anything I wanted. You promised me..." Beads of tears fell from the heavens, and a gust of wind blew away the words she had locked in her heart for so long. The clouds had scattered while the sun smiled radiantly, as if mocking the clouds for weeping. Sunny rain. Rain coexisting with the sun.

"I know that you can hear me..." All that replied to her were the rustling leaves. Raindrops seeped through the thin veil, sliding down her cheek. Or perhaps they were tears.

Closing her eyes, she threw the hat and veil to the ground. No one would see her here. Nobody but him. Water soaked her flowing hair, weighing it down with moisture. Her dress clung to her body, and she couldn't help but shiver. A thousand images flashed before her eyes - memories etched permanently into her mind. Why did everything feel like it happened yesterday? 

"Stop cheating!" a little girl pouted, pointing her slightly chubby finger at the grinning boy. 

"I don't." 

"Then how do you always find me before I can even count to thirty!" she questioned, her lips quivering.

"No one asked you to always hide behind the tree with the most peach blossoms. Plus you don't know how to count to thirty."

Even to the end he never knew that the younger girl purposely hid there because she wanted him to find her faster.

The drumming of the rain continued, but she no longer felt them beat against her skin. The wind's howl didn't weaken, yet she no longer felt the cold pierce through her. Looking up, what greeted her was the canopy of an umbrella instead of the cloudless sky.

"Are you still cold?"