Spring

Thirteen

She sighed softly and to opened her eyes, lifting her head and staring at the green canopy above her.

Beautiful, she thought, as something soft fell from the sky and landed on her cheek. She glanced out from under the tree. With her hands outstretched, palms facing the sky, catching the falling diamonds, she thought in wonder, it's raining.

From the bench, the boy looked up, the clouds were a light grey, but the sky was still an impossibly-- if just slightly greyed -- clear blue. He thought in wonder, it's rain.

It was already late July, in two days, it would be the first of August. Everybody had expected the summer to be a hot, dry summer, there was the occasional light drizzle, but never a rain. This rain-- in the middle of a sunny late afternoon -- in a way, was a blessing, a small respite from the hot weather.

Suddenly, the sky darkened, the blue turning into a light grey, it begun pouring. Hard.

From behind the tree, The girl giggled and crossed her arms above her head to try to prevent herself from getting wet, but to no avail. She was soaked from head to toe in an instant, her blue summer dress sticking to her body. But she didn't mind, it felt lovely to feel the cool droplets on her skin.

From the bench, the boy just stared up at the sky, mouth hanging open, eyes wide in wonder, or perhaps it was amazement. He didn't move to cover himself, and he too, was soaked from head to toe in an instant. But he didn't mind, he'd always loved the rain. Rain, he thought. Rain... It was raining!

As the summer rain continued to pour, her thoughts couldn't but help to wander to the boy. She wondered if he liked it, if he liked rain, the cool spray of water on his skin, and the pure sound of falling raindrops; or did he think that it was a huge bother? She didn't know that he, in fact, loved it. He loved rainy days, he used to go out and play in the rain when he was younger; and as he got older, he simply sat by a window, admiring the way the world looked soft-- less sharp angles, more blurred lines, in the rain. He loved it, she didn't know, but it was okay.

The boy stood up and looked around. The world looked so soft, so muted in the rain. So beautiful. He stared at the small lake, the droplets of water battering it's surface, thousands of ripples blooming across it, like fireworks blooming in the sky.

He didn't know that at that every same moment, behind the tree with heart-shaped leaves was a girl also admiring the lake, but it was okay. He didn't know that her red lips were pulled up into the most carefree, happy smile, but it was okay, though he would have loved to see it.

He stood there beside the bench longer than intended. Before he left, he admired the lake once more. The rain had subsided slightly, it was now a drizzle. Sunlight broke across the water's surface; it looked like a shining, golden mirror, like the lake was on fire, and it was beautiful.

Then, he saw it. At the edge of the lake, at the very corner of his eye, he saw it. It was a reflection of a girl. He couldn't see her clearly, he couldn't see her wet lashes clumping together to form tiny, star-like shaped points, or even her smile, for that matter.

But somehow-- like it was the most natural thing to know, he knew that as she stood under the late summer rain, on her face was the most happy, carefree and beautiful smile there was.

And for some reason, it made him smile, too.