Rain

She loved to stand in the balcony of their flat. “It was a perfect blend of the view of nature and the modern world” she’d say to him. They were seventeen floors up in the sky and the street and cars below looked like toys. She would stay there every evening, looking out into the sunset. She could see the beach from here, people and children moving around like tiny ants and the tired and thirsty sun drowning itself into the depths of the sea. She would occasionally make sounds like “vrooomm vrooomm” like a small child, saying she could reach out and grab those cars and roll them down the street...


She’d been married to him since a year. It was difficult being forced for marriage by her parents, when she was already in love with someone else. She felt stifled everyday of her life in the flat, lost in memories of her past. Her days faded to nothingness like the hot burning asphalt, floors beneath her flat. Her dreams were shattered. She knew he cared for her, that he’d do anything for her, but she felt captive now. She’d gone on to doing silly but crazy things, trying to regain her playful self. She’d go play with the little children in the beach, she’d get wet in the rain when everyone else ran for shelter, she’d stolen ice creams from the ice-cream guy on the beach because he always behaved rudely with children…And she’d even snatch things from people like she was crazy and make them run after her for fun.

He’d never scream at her for the complaints their neighbors had, for the entire racket she made. He loved her for she was the light of his life. He knew she was not happy with life. Her dreams and her career were taken from her. She loved him, he knew, but that was not enough. But she’d never give him a minute to talk to her. She would always be around with children or she would be engrossed in watching TV, she would not hear what he wanted to say. It’s just that she didn’t want to listen. It wasn’t his fault that her life was like this and she never wanted to hear him apologize for it.


He hugged her every night telling her he loved her so much. Somehow this love wasn’t reaching her. There was a line of pain in her heart that she could not cross. She would never look into his eyes. Her lips would seem unresponsive when he would kiss her. Though he knew she wouldn’t like it, he always wanted to give her a peck on her lips to tell her how much he loved her. He would carry her to the balcony every morning so that she could see the lovely sky and her favorite beach when she’d open her eyes. On some days, she would wake early, and yet wait for him to wake up so that he would carry her..


It was late in the evening, when he got home after work that day. She still stood in the balcony, leaning against the wall beside her and looking out into the sky. The cool breeze blew the curtains gently away from the door. Her hair drifted behind her, caressing itself in the breeze. The scent of the breeze accented the rain, and that of her hair was priceless. She hadn’t noticed that he had come in. She seemed to have been upset and crying. Her cheek glistened in the low light, with tears.

He inched close to her, putting his arms around her waist, hugging her from behind, resting his chin against her shoulder. She tried to smile, but couldn’t help sobbing. It started to rain and her sobs were drowned under the sound. He held her silently, closing his eyes and filling his heart with the smell of her hair. “I want to fly out into the sunset one day, free as a bird…” She said to him. He smiled, telling her that she will. He handed her a small envelope that had her name on it. “It means I’ll miss you for 3 years. Three years is a long time for me, but not for your dreams. Go on, open it”


She hadn’t quite understood what he meant. Opening the envelope she couldn’t believe her eyes. He’d got her admission for journalism in a renowned university. She turned around. Too weak to say anything, she looked into his eyes. She had never told him that she wanted a career in journalism. He smiled warmly at her like the welcome home smile he gave her on the day they were married.


“I just want you to be happy sweetheart. You just never told me what you needed.” He said in a whisper, half clear, half broken.


She hugged him tight, tears streaming from her eyes yet laughing because of the sudden weight that was lifted off her chest. “Carry me out into the rain”, she said. Holding her tight, he carried her out of the building. She looked into his eyes, noticing the love that he had for her. He stood on the pavement holding her in his arms. He couldn’t help laughing at the prospect of standing in an empty street, getting wet in the rain like little children. She knew he’d miss her and his tears now blended with the rain. She realized how she was prejudiced about freedom in married life and that she had never been happier like she was now. She looked into his eyes, telling him that she loved him… He could only gesture what he felt. The moon shown from amidst the clouds, as they sat on the pavement talking and quarrelling, making fun of each other, drenched in the rain…


Days passed by and he missed her. But every time he spoke to her on the phone, he felt happy. She had been out there chasing her dreams, living her life and that’s what he wanted. Her presence still lingered there. The pillow held the smell of her hair. The balcony seemed a lonely place to be without her, yet the curtains held her fragrance like she was a flower.


He stood there one late afternoon, looking at the sky. The colors began to waver. The wind seemed to howl as the waves hit higher against the rocks at the beach. He felt the essence of déjà vu, seeing everyone in the beach run for shelter and people quickening their steps on the street down below. The wind grew colder and it started to rain. He felt elated, tender, like the touch of her wet skin when he would embrace her. He missed her and the rain seemed to know he did. The lightning across the sky occasionally plunged him into light, like a reminder that she was there...


Closing his eyes, his lips curving into a smile, he whispered to himself… “She likes rain…”