She was like the gentle falling rain. I would run out to meet her in the heart of the summer and play beneath the falling droplets. Her hands would be full of the shopping she did at the market but she would drop all in an instant and sweep me up into her strong arms.
She would cuff me gently and scold me, telling me that I would catch a fever playing in the rain. Then she would sigh in exasperation as I presented my muddy white shirt to her. Mama, I'm sorry. I would say. She would sigh. But it was so hot today, and the rain was so nice. Then she would smile and rub a towel over my short black hair.
***
She was like the gentle falling rain. Her tears would rain down on me, every time he hit her. She would touch my face and tell me to go hide somewhere and keep very quiet. Will we play a game? I would ask. Yes, yes. She said. Go hide, hurry.
And then I would go hide. I hid behind the wall, where I could still fit in a hole made years before I was born, and then I watched out for Mama. Then Papa would come home. And then Mama's tears will fall on me like the rain, and I had no power to stop them. I cannot stop the rain.
She was like the gentle falling rain. Sometimes I would go out in a shower and hold my hands out to catch the droplets from the heavens. I can never catch them all. I would spin and lunge and try to catch each falling drop. And mama was just like that. The day she left I ran, and I ran, and I ran, and I could not catch her.
And I remember, I knew she was gone, just like I knew the rain had stopped. All of a sudden the house was very quiet. I could no longer hear the gentle droplets on the roof. I can no longer hear her soft, soft humming. And I knew she had left me.
Points: 1100
Reviews: 15
Donate