Drizzle

I remember you better when it rains.

She closed her eyes, while laid down on the ground. There was this slow drizzle that caressed her face through her hoodie. This was the place she had chosen to escape in this town, a spot she called her own. There was this smell of flowers right across her that reached her. She had been easy with the rain, too familiar, too attached. She had always considered it to be a blanket, it healed her. It has been a habit to be there whenever it rained for the first time. But this time, the rain brought the scent of her moments she had spent past few weeks. Where are those days gone, back when people were easier to love?

As the raindrops nuzzled her, she saw a figure approaching. Before she could make out the face, her heart geared up its rhythm teasing because somehow it knew who she wanted this person to be.

Afzal

There he was, handsome in a red hoodie and faded jeans. His hair looked like he had been coursing through them too many times. There wasn’t a particular smile on his face, but then there never has been. He looked more intrigued.

“What on the earth you are doing Afreen? You are gonna get sick.”

“It’s only drizzling…”she muttered not entirely pleased by the amused look.

“You’re…something…” he grumbled under his breath but she caught that.

“I know it’s weird, but rain soaks my heart and then cleanses all the worries. I am the happiest whenever it rains.”

She had never revealed this to anyone, but to him she wasn’t quite surprised. He looked at her studying, like he knew how this moment mattered to her, how this raindrops mattered to her heart.

“Well I guess it won’t be bad to try then…”He slowly got to the ground beside her and laid flat next to her. She could see there was certain discomfort in his eyes but the fact that he did swelled her heart. He put the hoodie on like her and turned his face to her so that he could look at her.

“Do you know there is a word for the way rain smells?” She blurted out and then realizing of course he knows, who doesn’t and mentally smacked herself. He raised a brow in amusement.

“Continue…”He said.

“It’s called petrichor and I love that smell. I wish I could somehow keep it locked literally, but having it in my heart is enough…”

“I am searching a word for you Afreen…Insanity?”

“Why do you always keep saying my name?”

“Do you mind?”

“No…”

“I like your name, it’s beautiful…” He paused and stared at her like he wanted to something else too or she might have been imagining things.

They were lying on their backs on the grass at the end of town with rain lightly drizzling down on them. It might ridiculous to anyone who might pass by but neither of them seem to mind. The only noise was the soft patters of rain with tangled emotional passion inside their hearts.

She studied him thoroughly so she could decipher, why was he here? But he had a mystery around him, in his eyes, like there is an internal battle he is fighting. Like he is drowning and coming up for air and then drowning again. The circle was vicious and it was evident how he managed to get close at an instant and then stay away nothing mattered to him.

“Why are you here Afzal? You said that…”

“That it was a mistake…” His eyes were focused on her but his thoughts drifted somewhere else.

“It’s not that I don’t feel Afreen…I can feel fire when things haunt me and it burns against my skin; I can feel the rain and it feels just like your lips caressed mine that night; I can feel your fingers knotted in my hair when I breathed against your skin…” He paused for a moment to take a breath and said, “I feel everything as other people feel…I am just empty inside.”

And she knew she could just wrap her arms around him and let him pass all his nightmares to her just by touching, if there was something called taking the pain away from the touch.

He put his hand nearer to hers and their fingertips touched. And she wondered if he ever felt that he was melting from the warmth of their contact like she was. She caught his hand and smiled, “I am ready to be someone you feel for and even not feel whenever you like, till you find your way back to me. I want to affect you like you do to me slowly but all at once, I want to be your rain Afzal, to cleanse your heart of all the nightmares residing.”

“Let me be your drizzle Afzal…”

Author's Note

Thank you for the reviews

Reviews

[Coyote Poetry]

This story is so good dear Prachi.
"I want to affect you like you do to me slowly but all at once, I want to be your rain Afzal, to cleanse your heart of all the nightmares residing.”
“Let me be your drizzle Afzal…"
I loved the complete tale and the above lines. Were perfect. Thank you for sharing the outstanding story. I hope you are doing well. Stay safe.
Coyote

[Leslie Philibert]

What I enjoy here is the way the dialogue is built into the text, that it is always clear who is speaking, and the way the spoken text is balanced out with description. So good to read, and the kind of writing that is liked, well done.

[prachi prangya agasti]

Thank you so much...