R | Writing | Short Stories | The Dark and the Rain

The Rain pelted against my back, soaking my clothes and making my hair drip with wetness. People were gathered around and a few curious crows had settled on the streetlights, but I didn't see any of them.

He lay like a helpless boy below my hunched form, making small, pathetic gasps for breath. My hands gripped his upper arms, clenching as if reaching inside his soul could somehow save him. My thoughts were awhirl but it all boiled down to the simple fact: I did not want him to die. My heart skipped a beat, painfully, when he attempted to speak. The colour was washing from his face and the pupils of his eyes seemed distant...it was as if the windows to his soul had closed. I choked on my own tears, struggling to keep them back. The salty dampness mixed with the fresh rain as it ran down my cheeks and fell upon his body. He attempted to speak again and then I could no longer hold back my tears. They came as a gushing burst from my eyes and with them came my cries, which I also tried to stifle.

My hand groped in the Dark, wet night, fumbling for his own blood-drenched hand. Once it was found, I squeezed it as tight as I could. "Don't speak, don't move. It'll be alright." How could I sound so calm, I screamed at myself. He was dying before my eyes and there was nothing I could do to stop it.

His other hand came up, slowly, as if the mere movement caused him pain. His palm cupped my cheek and his fingertips caressed my skin like feathers. I reached up my free hand and placed it atop his, leaning into his touch, savouring it like it was the first time. "You don't have to cry for me. I'm going to a better place, and you'll meet me there someday."

All at once I felt angry and sadly betrayed. My mind raced to grasp any shred of evidence that what was happening shouldn't be. He should still be alive, holding me in our bed, rocking me to sleep. "No. No, you won't go there! We'll get you a doctor and you'll be home with my tonight and we'll never think of this moment again! You'll be safe with me again." And then his body have a sudden convulsion that was horrible for me to witness. His lung gasped and wheezed for air and the pressure of his grip on my hand increased so that I lost bloodflow. At this point, I was saying anything that came to my mind; pleads, curses, accusations to who had deemed us as star-crossed lovers. "Don't leave me here! You promised me you'd never leave and now you're dying, you hear me? Please don't leave me!"

The Rain fell faster, creating mist on the street. The people around us were ghosts in a hollow world. Their faces resembled his, their hushed voices sounded like his own, deep and sweet as honey. Memories came to me, and events that had happened so recently that they had no right to become memories. I screamed at him, I cried like a little child, begging. I shouted at the Heavens and cursed all the angels and divine beings who lived there for taking him away from me. I'd taken him into my arms and cradled his head against my shoulder. "My love, please don't leave me..."

I could hear my heartbeat in my ears, and it was like the world was pulsing with it. And with each pulse, his life faded a little bit more. His hand on my cheek moved to my mouth, his thumb stroking my lips. Shivering, he raised his head and placed a kiss on them, murmuring a fond farewell of love to me. And then he left me - alone, with the Dark and the Rain.