Chapter 5 - Rain Falls at Dawn

Chapter 5: The Rain Falls at Dawn

 

“Rise and shine!” Her voice blasted me out of my sleep like hearing a cannon being fire right beside me.

In that moment, several things occurred:

As I jolted into a sitting position, she ripped the sheets off of me and because of my sudden reaction; she lost her balance and stumbled forward.

“AHHHH!” She shouted as she fell.

I could barely react by reaching out to stop her fall, but all I did was make her fall on top of my left side. She slammed into me and I hit my head on the wall.

“Ouch.” I muttered while rubbing the back of my head. Thankfully she’s rather light so no real damage was done.

I opened my eyes

“Are you oka-“

At that point I pretty much froze.

She lay on top of me, right over my left arm, her eyes mere inches away from mine.

“Owww…”

I was already blushing, but when she opened her eyes I flushed in a deep crimson.

“Huh?” She opened her eyes and gazed directly into mine.

They were outlined with confusion, but as I looked deeper into her brown, earthen eyes it made me feel like a flame, a soft, yellow flame, was ignited within her that held the most beautiful compassions, hopes and desires, with the silky traces of a bright yellow and orange that represented her kindness and patience.

I was too entranced to notice that she was blushing by now as well, but surprisingly enough, she wasn’t struggling. Rather, I could hear her heart was beating as quickly as mine.

“Not…again…”

This made me snap to reality and it made me aware of the current situation.

Before I could do anything she said

“Ummm… could you please let me go?”

In all that confusion, I didn’t notice that I firmly held her with my left hand.

“Oh, right…” I removed my hand quickly. She took a couple of deep breaths afterwards, it seemed like it was a bit suffocating.

“S-S-Sorry about that, I had no idea what I was doing.”

She got up and spoke: “It’s alright, don’t worry about it.”

Her voice was frail and vulnerable like a bell made of glass. I could of sworn it reminded me of someone…

        *                                      *                                      *

After several minutes I was down in the kitchen and helping her make breakfast.

She was mostly silent and I could feel that something was wrong, even though I knew her for less than a day.

Wondering what could of caused it, I looked out the window and saw dark clouds gathering overhead. They looked like ominous incorporeal warriors filled with sorrow, contempt and anger.

We ate in silence, so I could feel seconds drag on like an eternity. Was this a punishment? It certainly felt like one. But why was I being punished?

Even though we just met, I hated seeing her so sad and weak. Above all, I hated myself for making her this sad. She doesn’t deserve to grieve, only to smile and be happy.

Wait, I can’t think like this! It’s not yet my time.

With the chaos running rampant in my mind I could barely hear her as she got up and told me in a quiet voice:

“I’ll need your help to gather the Rain Lotuses. Without them, I can’t make most of my paint.”

Her voice was calm and quiet but it had a tune of a broken note played by an old violin.

I could only nod in compliance and warn her.

“We should hurry; it’s likely going to rain soon.”

She didn’t respond to that, rather she laid away the plates and waited for me by the door, her look pointed downwards and her beautiful brown eyes lined with a soft, deep blue sorrow.

I knew I had to make this right, but how could I fix that which I had no idea where it was broken? Could I fix it at all?

I went over to her and opened the door to the heavy wind before the rain

*                                      *                                      *

It was the first time I went out into this world, so the sensation felt refreshing, like I was confined to a prison for months and have been released at last.

The plains of this world have grown darker for me, as the sky throws upon us a cold, mournful shadow that is served by the roaming cold winds which cut through the air like blades of executioners long since fallen.

She led me forward, down the hill and into a glade of pine trees, towards a small river that, by her words, is the biggest area that has Rain Lotuses blooming, but that’s the most information I got from her all day.

As we walked down a path made of dried dirt and stone, she remained quiet and kept her fair distance from me. Or did I keep my distance from her? It was all so confusing, how could a peaceful morning turn into such a mess?

The air was humid, the moisture without rain was suffocating, similar to a cave with no way out. Today, the whole world was like that cave, a big trap that through silence takes your life away.

Soon enough we reached the glade’s entrance and the grinding of boots against the dirt was muffled by the earthen brown carpet of pine tree needles.

With a sure step, she went onward into the forest, and I followed in her wake, unsure, but with a strong desire to make this right.

*                                      *                                      *

We passed into the forest border silently like the falling of leaves, and under the thick branches that created a natural roof over us.

Before we ventured in too deep, I could of sworn I heard the first drop of rain fall.

But then again, it could be just my imagination.

 

An occasional patch of grass rustled when she passed over it, while I took care to remain silent, as per an old habit.

And again, silence fell on us like a cloak of darkness, but now I didn’t try to spark up a conversation, knowing it would be futile, so I had little but to hope that when we’d stop, she would speak to me again.

Focused on the path ahead, I kept my eyes on her back covered by her hip long brown hair that waved to the sides with each step she took, but that motion was ever so slight and gentle that without focusing hard enough I’d miss it easily.

As our walk continued, the numerous pine trees were slowly being replaced by white willows which lowered their vine like branches to our heads, some even lower. This mark made me realize that we weren’t that far away any longer, because the pine trees were quickly losing ground to the willows. Soon enough, nothing but willows was in sight from our serpentine path. With the sky now visible, I could feel light drops fall on my face from the darkened sky.

We both quickened our pace as to find shelter from the coming rain. I can’t comprehend the amount of time nor the length of the path we ran across, as it all quickly faded into a blur.

A long time passed as we were buffeted by the remote drops of a storm, but in the end we stopped. As soon as she stopped, I was heavily breathing.

“We’re here.”

She spoke with a melancholic tone as she looked forward. I could hear the sound of running water, so I thought it was a river.

At first, I was unconscious of my surroundings due to my exhaustion, then after a mere moment, a rather sweet and refreshing smell of water flooded my sense, similar to an overflowing stream.

Looking in her direction, I saw a very wide river across which slowly drifted an innumerable amount of lotuses, their outer petals colored pure white, which changed into different shades of blue at their tips. These petals hid behind them something I haven’t seen yet so my light wonder drifted towards them, carried by the same stream they sailed on.

Now that I notice, the other side of the river was invisible due to the thick fog gathering like a veil of white shadows at sunset. It felt as if the veil was creeping up on us, threatening to devour everything in its path.

But then I saw something strange; a small, blue light descended into one of the closed lotuses with dark blue tips and with a ray of dark blue light it opened, its center still glowing faintly.

She stepped into the river along with me and we started gathering the open flowers that shone in the whole blue spectrum.

After a while, we had four containers filled with the flowers that were glowing, carefully placed as to not damage the petals. We sat down under one of the willows, waiting for the now strong rain to stop.

Now was the perfect opportunity for me to say what I’ve had on my mind for so long.

“Listen.” I spoke out “I really want to say sorry for what happened this morning. It’s been on my mind ever since it happened and even though I don’t understand what made you react like that, I can see clearly it’s still a sore wound, so I won’t ask. That’s all I wanted to say.”

After that, complete silence took over again. For several moments nothing happened and I was worried if she heard me at all, but I couldn’t look at her.

Suddenly, I felt a light pressure on my right arm and after so long, I finally heard her soft, sweet voice speak

“Thank you, but it’s not your fault. It’s just something that happened long ago.”

A sense of relief flooded me and I relaxed, feeling a heavy load fall from my shoulders. We sat there for a while, watching as more of the Rain Lotuses opened and sailed towards their next destination.