Rain

         The curtain rises.

         Lush green pines encompass the backdrop with cracked windows of dark sky overhead, accompanied by shady rays of the last bits and pieces of sunlight left. Birds do not sing; only the distant roll of thunder can be heard. Leaning on a pine, there is a dark haired girl wearing jeans and other casual attire. She is looking up at the ray of the last sunshine.

         This is her play. It is her imagination and she is directing it. She knows what will happen.



         It will rain.



         And so the rain comes, slowly at first, as if those teardrops had fallen carelessly out of the sky for some mistake. Leaning on the pine tree, the girl holds out her right hand with a slight smile curving up, and cups a drop. Cool, thirst quenching rain, uncontaminated by the fumes of factories and the gas of cars, fall throughout the forest. The sound of rain hitting the leaves resonates slowly, its beat steady. Thunder rumbles near.

         The girl suddenly leaves her pine. Bolting through the velvety dark emerald leaves, she rushes in a hurry to get to that unknown destination. The sound of the rain drums her on. It slowly increases its speed until the sound of rain is an onslaught of rain on leaf, the pitter-patter of new life. The girl’s face goes from laughter to impatience, swiftly making her way through, as if she knows the way already. After a while she suddenly finds herself in a clearing, face filling with satisfaction at the emerald grass and the open sky that she has reached. The blanket of an ominous rain cloud still covers the blue. Rain is still falling steadily and the clearings’ grass is wet from the rain. Kicking off her sandals, she feels the gentle touch of the droplets on her sore feet.

         Walking to the center of the green sea of waving grass tips, she raises her hands into the air and lifts her chin up to the heavens. She begins to dance. Her body feels the rain’s natural beat. The thunder is music to her ears as the drops of water kiss her skin. This indescribable feeling pulsate through her heart makes her emotions explode. It is the most refreshing, exhilarating experience she has ever felt. Nobody to condemn her, nobody to redeem her. She is alone among herself, in this dance with the crying sky.

         The drum beats slow, and her dance decelerates with the rain. She lowers her body down onto the grass. Lying with the water still dripping a bit on her face, she closes her eyes to an emerging rainbow and listens to her rough breathing. Her heart is throbbing with the elation and revelation that this dance has cost her. Energy is sapped, but replacing that space is knowledge. Knowledge of a freedom, as her unkempt hair has flown through the air and the water kissed her face and nature blessed her with this opportunity. She feels herself falling as the rain cascades with her.

         Now the world is dark under her eyelids. Someone is calling her name far away.