For Crying Out Loud

27: Rain, Fire, and Dancing

Sierra's P.O.V.

The silence was deafening after Hayden left. Part of me feared that she wouldn't come back, that I had lost her again. Honestly, I thought this was how she'd say goodbye. I wound up just crawling into bed and sleeping for a while longer, for the house had never been so quiet.

     When I woke up, the sound of rain patterned against the tin roof. I look through my phone and think about how broken everything has been lately; how broken I have been. But I also remember how beautiful things once were and how I've subconsciously longed for that again.

     The thunder grumbles, slightly shaking the tin of the roof. A memory flashes before me. My friends and I dancing in the rain at the beginning of summer some years ago. How civil things were back then, back before everyone became ticking time bombs awaiting for the perfect moment to explode. Have we exploded? I wonder. Not quite.

     I stand and find my way beneath the chill of the rain. The thick drops land on my skin causing me shiver. I've never understood why I admire rain so deeply. Perhaps because it's calm and cold, all the while I'm much the opposite. Perhaps it's because of the damage it can likely cause, though it's something so simple. Perhaps it's because it reminds me of the tears I've only seen slide down Jake's face once. I smile at the thought, how he hated to cry in front of people.

     I reach my hand out into the rain, catching droplets on my fingertips. Taking a sharp intake of breath at the chill that shoots up my veins.

Rain is the tears of the sky
But tell me why does the sky cry
Is it because of how sad we all are
Or because we allow our anger to go so far

Why does rain symbolize sadness
Why can't people recognize the madness
The madness that drowns our pain
Oh, it's the madness not the rain

The rain is a gift, oh I swear
The rain is how God reminds us to care
Telling us to love the natural things
Yet no one notices the life it brings.

Perhaps that is why the sky cries
It mourns the fact we don't recognize
The rain wasn't meant to be tears
It was meant to remind us why we are here

So let's dance in the falling rain
And finally let go of all of this pain
Take my hand and let's admire together
For this moment, won't last forever

     I dance until the grey clouds grow black, and even in the night drizzle, I spin around and around. My clothes may droop in wetness, but in this moment I am burning as bright as fire that not even this rain can put out.

Jake's P.O.V.

     I am displeased by the drizzle I enter as I drive to the barn. How can I possibly paint when the rain refuses to stop?

     Rain has never been my foretaste in natural beauty. That was always Sia. She called herself a pluviophile. Someone who finds piece of mind during rain. She always wrote her best pieces on days like this. I remember sitting with her on the porch, looking over her shoulder as she slouched over her beloved notebook, lost in words. That was the only thing I've ever like about rainy days. I loved what they did to her. I loved the fire that ignited in her eyes at the sound of raindrops on the roof. She'd never waste time to go out there and enjoy it. Rain is her sunset. The sunset is my rain. Two totally opposed beauties, for two totally opposed people. But we were never much different, really. He had different dreams, but they always seemed to lace with each other. We had different opinions toward life, but we were equally passionate about them. We were different in the same ways, if that makes any sense.

     I find my way to the barn, finally, and carry my paints and brushes to the inside. There is old hay stacks surrounding the interior, but besides that, the place is quite abandoned, just as I had expected. I yawn as I sit and lean my back against a bale. The twenty-three hour drive has gotten me quite exhausted. There is no sunset to watch today, just darkening clouds, so I close my eyes and drift into a much needed sleep.

     "It's raining!" She calls to us all from the kitchen. Hope, Heaven, Jade, Jude, Jarrod, Krissy, Kelsey, Bethany, Jewel and I all crowd her living room. Today was meant to contain a bonfire and a couple bags of marshmallows, but it's pretty obvious that plan has been postponed, or by the look in Sierra's eyes, changed all together.

     "No." Says the twins in sync. "We are not going out there to get sick and die." Sia just pouts, her bottom lip poking out. Jude groans and falls back on the couch before rolling off and standing back up.

     "Fine, I'll go. But your paying my hospital bill." He says with fake annoyance. She smiles at him before looking at the rest of us pleadingly. One by one we all agree and moments later we are all dancing in the rain.

     When she grabs my hand, I spin her into me, swaying ever so slightly. She laughs and looks up at me, her green eyes slightly speckled with the blue of excitement. She pecks my cheek before pushing away a little, keeping my hand in her grasp. Her eyes never leave mine as we dance, and her smile never fades. I resist all urges to kiss her as I hold her against me. Our friends may surround us, but right now all I see is her. The girl I love so effortlessly.

     The girl I will continue to love, because that's worth doing. No matter what storm may sweep us apart, or what fire may burn holes in us, I will always love her.

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Tell me, what do you guys prefer? Sunsets or Rain? VOTE! TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK! LOVE YOU MY DARKLINGS!