Rain
Book One, Imaginary
Preface
It had rained that evening. The town smelled of warm, wet asphalt and fallen leaves as it grew silent. Lights flickered off and darkness crept into each and every home, leaving the streets vacant. The streetlights attempted to brighten the night, but the dirty yellow shine only revealed the moths and mosquitoes that flew mindlessly around the light. It was a rare evening; the one rare night when all were dreaming. A rare situation when all had the same dream, a dream none would remember. It was very rare for humans to share thoughts and feelings; it was near impossible for them to be truthful with one another about their dreams.
But tonight they wouldn’t have to.
Everyone was dreaming of rain. The soft sound, the chilling feeling, the pleasant smell. They could almost feel the water on their skin, melting into their body and cooling their blood. Behind their eyes they could see a house, the vision blurred by the falling water. It was a gray dream. No color but the glow of silver rain. It was as if the dreamers were standing in a line before the house, letting the rain soak them, as they waited. They waited and waited for a long portion of the night, staring at the dark scene.
Then the picture changed.
The front door opened, revealing the residence of the house; a tall, balding man dressed in a white suit and tie, holding hands with his wife, whose white sun dress flowed in the wind. Between them stood a child with long, dark hair who, unlike her parents, wore a black dress and no shoes. Her hair waved uncontrollably in the freezing breeze, and her mouth was open, a silent conversion passing between the family. The dreamers did not hear the spoken words, for the sound of the rain was too loud. After the mother opened a large white umbrella, they stepped away from the door and towards the car that rested between the house and the dreamers. The wide, fake smile on the father’s face disappeared when he closed the car door once his daughter was inside. This confused the dreamers.
The car pulled away from the house, passing through the dreamers and speeding down the road. Each dreamer followed behind the car, flying through the storm wondering where the family was heading at this late hour. The car didn’t stop for a long time, but when it did, the rain had begun to fall so dramatically that the family couldn’t see an inch outside of the windows. But the father opened his door and got out, slamming it shut as he opened the back door. He pulled his daughter out gently, ignoring her muted protests. The dreamers rested away from the car, watching as the man walked away from his wife and vehicle and into the silhouette of a forest. Before the dreamers followed, they could see the shaking outline of a weeping woman in the car.
The little girl was confused, that much was clear on her innocent, pale white face. She repeatedly spoke to her father, and the dreamers learned her question by watching the repetitive pattern of her lips.
Daddy, where are we going?
The man didn’t respond no matter how many times the child spoke. He just continued along the muddy path, stumbling over roots and holes, trying to keep his hold on the girl in his arms.
The dreamers followed, confused when the father stopped and set his daughter down in the mud. He whispered something in the child’s ear, she nodded and closed her eyes. Her lips moved, and her father began to walk away. Two steps, three…ten more…
And then he was gone. The dreamers gasped, realizing that the man had left his daughter in the woods.
Her eyes opened and she smiled for a moment before her stare became confused.
She called out, and the dreamers could hear her now; the rain still fell, but all was silent aside from the high, innocent voice of the girl.
“Daddy? Dad, where have you gone? Dad? Mom? Mommy! Where…? Mom, Dad!” The girl tried to run, but her tiny bare feet got caught in the mud and she fell, her cries turning into a scream of fear. “MOM! DAD!”
The dreamers suddenly couldn’t move; they wanted to help the girl. But they couldn’t fly towards her.
They just watched, suddenly sleepy, as the girl stumbled to her feet and began to run in the direction of where she thought her father may have gone. But the dreamers knew that he had run the other way.
Once she was out of view, the dreamers could move again, and they flew at full speed to follow the girl as she cried. Her screams burned the ears of the dreamers; her tears turned the rain salty, stinging the hearts of all who watched her. When the girl stopped, tired, in an open field, the dreamers realized that they were not the only things following the girl.
The child stepped out into the flowery field, out of breath at its beauty. The dreamers wanted to warn the girl of the shadows that began to creep out of the forest behind them, but something shushed them. She was oblivious to the creatures that neared her, the four of them whispering to themselves. The dreamers couldn’t understand what they said, but they could hear them talk; they spoke in voices that sounded like a ghostly moan. The girl bent over and picked a flower from the field and then turned around. She still hadn’t noticed the shadows, for her eyes were locked on the flower in her hands.
The dreamers wondered why she was staring so intently at the flower, so they looked closer, forgetting the shadows for a moment. The flower was wilting incredibly fast, as if the rain was making it shrink. Like paper being covered in water, the black rose crumbled. All of the flowers around them began to wilt as the shadows crept closer to the girl, and her eyes snapped up. They widened in fear as the shadows grew tall and turned into people; two men and two women. The once black and white silhouettes now shone several different, bright colors. The strangers were glowing like angels; one was purple, another blue, and the remaining two were green and orange. They faced the girl, towering over her in a menacing matter. The dreamers screamed out in fear, willing the girl to run from the monsters, but it was the type of dream where everything you say goes unheard.
And then the picture changed again. The girl was grown up. A beautiful young woman with youthful features replaced the trembling child, though she still wore a short black dress and no shoes. Her black hair was even longer now, weaving around wildly in the wind. Her eyes were closed, and her expression seemed broken somehow. Her tense stance made the shadows that still surrounded her back away, hissing at the girl before them. The dreamers were confused when the woman held her hands up for them to see. In her palms was the melting flower, its petals beginning to fade away as water filled her cupped hands. After a moment of silence,—apart from the sound of the heavy falling rain—when the flower had disappeared, the colors shining off of the four creatures spread and the whole scene came alive. All shades of gray vanished, and every detail of the forest became bright. The vivid green of each leaf, the faded blue of the sky. But the woman remained colorless, seeming completely out of place in the wondrous field. The dreamers marveled in the beauty of the moment, wondering how something this perfect had come to be. Each raindrop had its own rainbow, and the colors danced around the five figures.
And then, as the clouds above became dry and ran out of rain, the woman’s eyes snapped open.
The dreamers awoke with no memory of the dream apart from crimson eyes and the sound of rain.
(c) Megumi Faith
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