THE RAIN

UNEDITED SAMPLE LITERARY ARTICLE
By Karenina Isabel Apilado Lampa
IV - Michael Faraday


I’ve always loved the rain. The sound it makes as it reaches the ground is nothing but music to my ears. The cool atmosphere it always usually comes with drives all thoughts away from my mind, leaving me totally comfortable and refreshed. Just the sight of the thousand drops of rain would be enough to turn my frown upside-down, despite all things that should not have brought the smile upon me.

I’ve never had a reason to hate it. That is, until you came.

We met first inside the coffee shop. You were finishing your latte; I was just getting mine off the counter. As I turned around to head towards an empty table, you stood up at the same time. In a blink of an eye, my latte spilled all over your uniform. I was petrified and so were you. No words were spoken between us as we both looked at each other.
Soon, it started drizzling.

Our next encounter happened a few weeks later. I was walking my dog in the park, not paying much attention. The next thing I knew, it was running from me. I wasn’t much of an athlete, so I didn’t have a chance of outrunning that crazy little creature.

Luckily, as I was just about to give up ever finding my puppy again, you showed up sitting on the bend, carefully caressing the puppy’s ears. You asked me if it was mine. I answered yes.
The rain started to pour down soon after.

I never thought that the day would come wherein you’d cross my path once again. But it did, and I felt something new in me. It was as if, I’d been waiting for that day to come. I was glad when it did, though I didn’t know that back then.

I was at the bookstore that day, looking for anything to read. Just as one title caught my attention, a hand reached out to grab the one last copy of it. I looked up, enraged. But when I saw your familiar face, I came to a sudden halt. Unlike our previous encounters, you were smiling at me now.

You told me you had been looking for this book ever since, but you held it out for me. I shook my head, insisting that I could find something else. He shrugged and went to the counter to pay for it. I acted nonchalant about it, but inside, I was flaming.

Some gentlemen he is. I was only trying to be proper, but whatever happened to ladies first? He was an arrogant, egotistical, selfish, annoying-
My thoughts were stopped as you faced me and held out the plastic bag containing the book. You told me to have it, and asked to borrow it after I was finished. I didn’t know how to respond. I just looked outside and noticed....the rain was falling ever so slightly.

After that, we came across each other more often. Every day that we met, it always rained. I could not comprehend what everything meant, but I knew one thing. I was happy. And with it, I became more and more accustomed to your mere presence.

It was a year and a half later when we met near the bridge over the rippling waters of the river. I was walking my dog again that day; the only difference now was that you were walking with me.

You looked troubled. Worried even, and I frowned unconsciously. You were always calm and serene, just happy and peaceful whenever we were together. There was something new about your aura that day, and it felt like a stranger to me.

Just as we were about to part, you pulled me back. I looked up questioningly, but you only wrapped your arms around me tightly, seeming like you never wanted to let go. Suddenly, I felt hot tears rushing from your eyes. I pulled away, immediately knowing something was wrong. You didn’t tell me anything; you just looked at me like you were looking at me for the last time. I felt a cold wind brush through me, and I felt the first drop of rain hit my arm.

I didn’t know then that it would have been the last time we shared the rain together.

A week after, I received a call from your mother. Her voice was breaking and I could hear the ache tearing her apart as she told me everything, right from the start.

He was dying...he knew it. He didn’t want to hurt you...He didn’t want to see you miserable. He loved you so much, it killed him to leave you this way...

I ran through the tears and sought for the bridge where we shared our last moment together. I looked around, hoping to feel you, to see you spring up from behind and tell me it was all a nasty joke.

But as I looked around helplessly, there was something about the air that told me you weren’t coming. It wasn’t until at that moment that I felt my eyes starting to well up in tears, and before I knew it, I was hurting painfully inside.

The rain started to pour down, harder than ever. I didn’t care. For the first time in quite a while, it was raining...and you weren’t with me.
I remembered the last words your mother told me.

He would’ve wanted you to be happy...

I smiled sadly as I let the rain fall around me. That was right next to impossible, and he knew it.

I’ve always loved the rain. The sound it makes as it reaches the ground is nothing but music to my ears. The cool atmosphere it always usually comes with drives all thoughts away from my mind, leaving me totally comfortable and refreshed. Just the sight of the thousand drops of rain would be enough to turn my frown upside-down, despite all things that should not have brought the smile upon me.

I’ve never had a reason to hate it. That is, until you came.