The Rain

8.

8.

As soon as we were free from the porch's hold on us, I gazed back at the house longingly.

"What's wrong?" River asked me as he looked up from my laptop, where I could tell he had been checking his emails, because there was a slight smile on his face.

"Nothing," I answered as I looked back to him. "It's just that I bought that house with Mitch, y'know? Back when I was sure that we were going to get married. I was sure of a lot back then."

"So was I," he agreed. "But I think our backstories have to become backstories. Nothing more, nothing less."

"Ditto."

I heard the sack rustling behind me. "Are you eating already?" I asked.

"I was hungry!"

"Honestly, you've got the appetite of a teenager."

"Want a banana?" River asked with a mouth full of Swiss Roll.

"Hand it to me."

"So," he said as he swallowed the cake. "Are you looking forward to a fresh, broke start in Dinky Nowhere? I bet that it's probably become some sort of Mecca for people like us who were in the storm that, y'know. Survived."

"Is there an actual name for Dinky Nowhere?" I asked. "That was just a sarcastic comment I made, not the name of the town."

"Doesn't say," River said as he squinted at my phone. "Less than  1,000 people, though, judging by the looks of the area."

"So I was right," I congratulated myself. "What're you planning to do?"

"Might stick around there," River shrugged. "I've developed a fondness for Dinky Nowheres over the years. You? I did ask first, y'know."

"I'll probably split," I said. "I salvaged my purse, so I've got the money to. Might go out west, or down south. I've never really left the midwest area. I wanted to move out there, but I stayed in Wisconsin 'cause Mitch wanted to."

"Well, after this," River said as he grinned at my back. "I'd follow you anywhere, woman."

"Ta!" I thanked him cheerfully. Raider barked his thoughts on the matter. I went back to paddling and listening to River's typing come out in short, manic bursts with each new thought.

I took a second to take in the scenery (or lack of it). Trees were beginning to appear in the distance, and there were more birds circling in the sky at their various preferences of altitude. The rain had stopped, and the sun was out, though it was setting. It was also considerably warmer.

"Here comes the sun, do-do-do-doo..." I sang softly.

Instead of finishing the line like I had thought he would, River asked, "Is it just me, or is the boat rocking considerably more than a boat should?"

I stopped rowing, and we sat in the middle of Storm Ocean for a while. We were rocking.

"What do we do?" River asked as we stared at each other.

"Ride the wave, I say," I suggested.

"You're the expert, after all."

"Wanna sleep it out and see where it takes us?" I offered.

"I'm knackered. Let's."

We fell into almost instant sleep, despite the canoe rocking angrily in the storm's last effort to claim our lives.

"We beat you, Storm!" I yelled at the black sky. "Curse you, we outsmarted you!"

"Take that!" River yelled with me.

I could feel the canoe slowly rocking its way forward towards some Nowhere Land. We didn't have any idea where we were going to, literally just "going with the flow". This time, I wasn't the man with the plan. And for once in my life, that was a good thing.

"Good night."

"Good night."