❝ Even if the sun rises, without you I'm cold. ❞
She was lost.
He was like a rainbow in the form of a person. Eyes that shined under the warm summer sun. A worn out hand holding on to her pale one. The loudest laughter you could hear from anywhere...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
***
That day it was raining for the first time since the beginning of summer.
Drops of water were gently falling from the grey sky, slipping off tree leaves and gathering in puddles. A refreshingly cold breeze was blowing between the houses of the town and people were standing by their opened windows and enjoying the welcome change from the usual summer heat. I was one of them too, sitting on my window sill, swinging one of my legs outside and letting the rain land on my skin. I was biting in to the sandwich that I was having for lunch and curiously watching what was going on in Hando island.
Children without umbrellas were playing in the mud and their laughter was echoing through the streets, people were running from door to door to not get wet under the rain and some tourists were strolling around with their colourful umbrellas. The town seemed as lively as ever, the only difference was that the restaurants and shops were full instead of the beaches and no boat left the port. It was unusual to see all of them gathered around the long wooden piers. I would always see them out in the open waters even during brief and short storms, but the sign hanging in the port that day clearly reminded everyone of the no sailing policy during weather like this one. The sea was dark and waves were crashing on the beach and the sailors were taking this as a chance to do reparations and things like that on their boats.
'' It's because of the Hando island disaster, '' Jinah told me and bit in to her sandwich. We finished doing some work in the inn and we were eating lunch together now. We were in one of the hallways where none of the rooms were booked in hopes we would not run in to our grandmother. It seemed like her mood drastically worsened with the weather and I often caught Jinah gazing towards the ocean with a strange sorrowful expression too. '' The mayor decided on the rule that no boat can leave the port if it's raining in the morning. Storms don't count, those come and go and not everyone can smell them in the air like some people do, but... If it's raining like this, you must stay. It's a sad attempt to prevent the past from repeating itself. The sea doesn't seem dangerous today, but it doesn't even matter. When it's like this... We all see the sea of that day. We remember the pain, the loss and we are thankful that we survived. ''
I was watching her, looking at the sea and smiling. Then I opened my mouth and blurted out the first thing that I could think of: '' Jinah, did our father die in the disaster? ''
My sister's smile instantly disappeared and her features distorted in to a frown. She crossed her arms on her chest, leaned against the wall by the window and I regretted asking that question. Our father was a hard topic to talk about and most of the time we chose to pretend like he never existed. That was what my mother taught me and my sister played along too, but I couldn't help it but to feel that she knew something that I didn't. She knew him, she remembered him, she had a bond with him.
I had nothing.
'' Does it matter? '' Jinah quietly murmured and sighed. '' Knowing will only bring you pain. I promised your mother to keep what happened a secret. I'm not about to give her a reason to come to the island and beat my ass. I already struggle to get rid of her when she calls me like three times a year. A family reunion is the last thing that I meed. ''
