The Rain

Just a quick scary story about a rain that refuses to stop.

We never saw it until too late. A heavy spring we figured, more rain than last year but nothing more. The farmers even wore smiles. Only a few days of rain that first week, enough to cover the sidewalks and streets with water but it drained before the next rain fell. This time we saw rain almost every day, with breaks around noon when the sun heated us up and broke the clouds. Some people suffered flooded homes. Certainly they did not appreciate this turn of events but they managed to make it by. When nature strikes, making by is often the best we can hope to do.

 

It struck me as unusual when the third week rolled around. More rain. Nothing strange about that. The problem was that it never stopped. It just kept on falling every day. By Wednesday we walked in storms. By Friday no one dared to go outside. The rivers overflowed. The sewers backed up. I lost my basement.

 

Then on the fourth Sunday I went to check on the basement. The water reached halfway up the wall, I could see my laundry bobbing along the surface. My dog, a German Shepherd named Toby, came down to check it out, stepped into the water and started to wade around.

 

When he yelped, I at first took it to be from a shock. My electronics never got unplugged, they must be charging the water. Then Toby went under, and a dark red bubbled up. I stumbled up the stairs. I pushed out my door and found my whole front yard drowned out, and just as my eyes adjusted to the bright porch light I saw the long knobbled ridge of its back dip into the water.

 

“No! Don’t!” I heard my neighbor Cherisse scream. I turned in time to see her husband step waist deep in the water, his arms outstretched to reel in their son. A second later the two of them were just ripples.

 

Another week and my first story filled. I brought what food I could carry to my bedroom upstairs and tried to wait out the nights. Several times I thought to swim to Cherisse’s; I knew she was still alive. But the trip would be too dangerous. We talked across the water when we could, tried to keep hope when there seemed no more to go around.

 

After a few more days we started to see the boats go by, answering the questions we wondered earlier in the week. Where were the men with boats? If what we saw was any indication, they suffered the same fate as the men in Cherisse’s life.

 

Another week and the roof was all either of us had. It started to rain again, a steady downpour that ran down the singles and forced the waters up. Cherisse’s home was shorter than mine. Hers vanished first, and her along with it. As the water crawls up the roof I realize I can not escape. I take a deep breath and dive in.

Reviews

[AlexValkyrie]

This was a thrilling and original read. I loved it.

[Ben Walker]

I love this - nice progression. Reminds me of dream I recently had where I just had so toughen up and accept my fate - grim stuff.
I especially enjoyed opening, created such a vivid picture.