Sunrise/Sunset

The Rain

Amiscia felt her heart flutter as she watched it come into view. Tall and lean shaped buildings of cold steel made up the large city of Acantha.

It was the day Amiscia turned ten years old. The day every child dreamed of up until the moment it finally arrived. At last she would be able to step foot inside the beloved city. See the grown-ups working, through tinted glass, the shop-keepers selling anything imaginable. This was the place where everything important happened.

Amiscia had heard her parents tell stories of Acantha since she could remember. They would talk of the bustling lobbies, busy markets, but most importantly of outside. No parent would ever fail to warn their child of the rain.

Most of Acantha was indoors, for it was the safest place for people to be. Buildings were as close as they could be, to minimize the time a person would spend outside. This is how it had always been, from the moment the city was built. To keep the citizens alive.

Although Amiscia's parents spoke often of the dangers of outside, she only really listened to their tales of the gorgeous views and thousands of people. And each day her father would return from his day of work in Acantha, the child would beg and beg for another detailed story of the elaborate city. Even if a story consisted only of a person waving to him, or of him being late to work, to Amiscia they were wondrous. For she dreamed so badly of going to that city. And now the day had finally come.

"Put on your mask, Ami. We're getting close." Her mother said softly. Amiscia has nearly forgotten all of the precautions she was forced to take. The uncomfortable clothes she wore to prevent any rain from touching her skin, the tall boots to protect her feet, and at last the thick cloth masks. But all of these things did not at all ruin Amiscia's excitement. Her eyes sparkled and her chest lifted. She felt so light, she could fly.

And before she knew it, there she was standing at the front gates of Acantha. A guard greeted them, but she tuned out all of his thorough safety instructions that she had heard far too many times, her ears instead listening to the leaves waving from their branches, the wind caressing her face and freezing her nose.

Then she walked the narrow streets with her mother, careful to watch her step and always keep an eye on the clouds. "If they turn grey, run away. If you stay inside, you'll stay alive." This was a rhyme Amiscia had memorized from the countless times it was recited to her. She repeated it to herself as she stared up at the silver sky, before her gaze fell to all of the things around her.

She read each of the signs lining the buildings, her head still too thrilled to process what she was seeing. To some children this city may seem boring or disappointing, but to her it was remarkable.

The buildings were so tall she couldn't see the tops of them, the streets so bare she could run for miles. Of course her mother would never let her do that, for the ground beneath her was almost just as frightening as the rain itself.

When they made it to a building where Amiscia's father was waiting for them, her mother ran inside to greet him. She assumed the child would quickly follow, but the little girl got distracted. She looked back up at the clouds, admiring their swirling shape and greyish color.

Then her stomach dropped.

Inside she ran, carrying the words on her lips, "The clouds! The clouds!" Her statement was barely heard within the crowded room, and for a moment she was so panicked that she couldn't find her parents.

"What is it, Ami? Take off your mask, sweetie, so we can hear you." Her mother said. Amiscia did just that, then repeated her frantic warning.

"Oh, let us check. I'm sure everything is alright." Her father reassured her. But as they all pressed their faces to the window, he had no more comforting words to say. The clouds were, in fact, grey.

"No, this can't be... They said it wouldn't rain today, they said we would be safe! What if she gets hurt? What if..." The worried mother stared helplessly at her husband, as he gently told her that nothing would happen to their daughter. But in those few seconds that they had been talking, their backs momentarily turned to the little girl, Amiscia had opened the door.

Only enough to look outside, for she saw no harm in simply peeking. Surely she would be safe if she only watched the rain for a moment...

But then a gust of wind brushed under Amiscia's feet, so unexpected that it knocked her onto the ground. The door slammed shut behind her and she was left outside, all alone. In the midst of the storm.

She screamed in terror as she felt sharp stinging in her cheeks, the rain already beginning to come. Guards were yelling for her to get back inside, too far away to go to her. At that point it was a life for a life. There was no way someone could save her without dying themselves.

Amiscia had never known exactly what the rain was, or what made it so scary, for all she had been told is that it was deadly. But at that moment, she had no more need to wonder.

Glass.

Everywhere around her. Raining down on her skin, scratching her eyes, slicing into her lungs with every shaky breath she took. She curled into a ball, hoping that perhaps making herself smaller would somehow lessen the pain. Lessen the fear of death.

Her parents watched in agony, guards holding them back from their daughter. Though she was only a few feet away, and all they wanted to do was save her, they were not allowed to take that risk.

It seemed as if Amiscia would become a number now. Counting the deaths that took place that year. Showing the flaws of their society and the planet they lived on. Representing their failure as a nation to save even one innocent child's life. For what had she done wrong to deserve such a horrific way to die?

Curled in a ball, whimpering hopelessly with the last ounce of strength she had as cuts lined every inch of her skin, Amiscia didn't notice the parting of the clouds and the quieting of the wind.

For a long time she thought she was dead. Because even though every inch of her ached and her mind was even more scarred than her body, she clung to the idea that it could all be over soon...

Then two hands lifted her from the shards of glass, taking her to two solemn parents who waited expectantly. But when they saw her, their hearts broke. They kissed their daughter softly on the forehead, watching with tears in their eyes as their daughter died.

The glass in her skin rose to the surface, covering first her face, then neck, then the rest of her body. She almost resembled a doll, a bluish, transparent color, with a rested expression.

The guard that had been carrying her then made his way to the top of the building, holding the girl with careful tenderness. When he reached the roof, he did the same thing he did each day. Threw the glass into the clouds, preparing for the next day when it would rain again.

For this was the way of Acantha. The cycle of life and death, glass and rain.

This was the way it would always be.