Stop the Rain
Stop the Rain
By: Rei
Story Summery:
Tears fall like rain; an expression used in most stories… and the only thing that could describe that week.
She was just your normal girl, simple in every way possible and he was just a normal boy with high hopes and a heart warming smile. Now who would have believed what happened that day? It was unbelievable and seemed so… unreal. A lesson that just shows that life is fleeting and that to the world one person's life is not a huge story but a minor footnote in the obituary section of your local newspaper. But in the heart of someone touched by the unfortunate victim, that minor footnote easily becomes a 600 page book.
Stop the Rain
Tears fell like rain, an expression used in most stories… and the only thing that could describe that week. Sure it started off wonderfully, but all good things do come to an end.
The soccer game had just ended little over half an hour ago and she had stayed behind chatting with friends, squealing, laughing, and hugging one another; not only had their team just won the championship game, but they had had their first victory against their rival school, Manabe High. This day should have been a happy day for this sophomore, yet fate had to be ever so cruel.
She said her goodbyes and began her long walk home. As she exited the field she overheard two girls talking about the lack of rain. Yes, it was May and Tokyo had been in a drought; they hadn't had so much as a sprinkle of rain since last December; she didn't mind though, she loved the sun.
After a while the girl reached the park only to see him, kicking a soccer ball all by his lonesome. Smiling she couldn't help but call out to him and wave. Looking up he flashed her that idiot grin of his and motioned for her to come over there. She giggled slightly as she approached him.
"Hi…" she hated how every time she let his name roll off her tongue her stomach felt like it had a million butterflies in it.
"Hey, yourself." He was so close to her now that she felt like heart had nearly skipped a beat. She ignored it and looked at the ball, "Playing by yourself, again?"
He laughed, "No, silly, I'm playing with Kiku and Kai." When he saw her look around for them he laughed again, "They're getting drinks."
"I knew that." She looked away blushing slightly. She stayed for a while having another wonderful talk with him. He spoke yet again about his dream of becoming a pro soccer player, his eyes fiery with passion as he spoke dribbling the ball around her.
During conversation she couldn't help but fall in and out of the conversation, thinking of how lucky she was. He was Tokyo High's pride and joy; their star soccer player and her boyfriend. Thanks to his love and passion for the sport they had won their game today. She sighed as he continue to speak more and more about that ongoing dream and how today was hopefully the first step in achieving it.
Being with a guy like that she couldn't help but wonder what he loved more: his sport or her? She brushed the thought away, a thought like that could only ruin the amazing day she was having.
After their conversation had ended she glanced down at her watch, "Well Kiku and Kai are probably going to be back soon, and since I know I'm not going to be leaving you all by you lonesome, I better get going." She laid a small kiss upon his lips and said goodbye. If only she hadn't decide to leave that moment maybe she could have avoided what happened next.
"Wait!" he called her back, "Don't go just yet."
"Why?" she asked simply. He paused for a moment; did he need an explanation for simply wanting the girl he loved to stay?
"Because you haven't seen my super-duper cool new trick yet."
She smiled and went back, "Alright then you can show me." His face let up when he heard those words. "Okay!" He looked like a little kid a he scurried over to get his ball.
As he did a back flip he yelled, "I'm going to hit that tree." He kicked the ball in mid air, but his aim was off and he missed. The ball rolled out into the street.
She giggled slightly, "You almost did it." The girl gave him a comforting smile, "Here, I'll get the ball."
The boy shook his head, "I can't allow a lovely young lady to sully her hands by touching such dirty ball; I'll get it." He walked into the street and bent over to pick it up. The girl's eye widened as she saw a bright flash of light. She tried to yell, but the words came out as a faint whisper instead, "Watch out." It was too late the words didn't reach him in time. The car screeched to a halt and a high school kid ran out, frantically dialing something on his cell phone. Her legs refused to move for a second and her whole body went numb. There he was not moving, lifeless on the street. Snapping out of her shocked daze she ran over to him.
He was bleeding a lot and barely breathing. "Wake up. Wake up, Wake up!" She yelled shaking him. No response. "Come on, please." His eyes opened slightly and he gave her a weak smile, "Hey."
She felt her eyes water and a drop of rain fall, "Hey." Then his eyes closed again and he said no more. "No. Come on, come on."
She held him tight until the paramedics came and put him in the ambulance. By this time she couldn't tell if her face was wet from the rain or her own tears. Why? Why did this just happen? Everything was going great…. Today was supposed to be great. So why? Why was it that something like this had to happen? That constant questioning of 'why' was all that filled her head.
The next day was Tuesday, and she could hardly bring her self out of bed, knowing that what happened yesterday was not some nightmare that had crept on her in her sleep, but a real accident.
That morning before school started she had gone to visit him in the hospital. She felt sick when she walked into his room. There the boy was… his body lying lifelessly upon that hospital bed, the only thing telling her that he was even alive was the machines beeping constantly monitoring his heart rate. Even then his heart beat slowly… making her's sink even more. The girl knelt over his bedside and whispered a small apology saying how she thought it was her fault that he was there, then laid a small kiss upon his check and headed to school.
It felt weird going to school, being in first period without the boy. She couldn't concentrate on the work or the teachers lecture… not when she knew that he wasn't all right. The nurse said he hadn't woken or even stirred since he was brought there. The worse part of that day was that everyone else seemed to be unaffected by yesterday events. It was only the next day did the school even bother to announce that he was in the hospital. People surrounded her asking what happened and how. She didn't speak nor answer any questions, for every time they asked, the event played over and over again in her head as if some one kept rewinding it.
Did fate or whatever power-at-be despise her so much? One would think so after what happened next.
It was now Thursday, three days after the accident, when Kai had pulled her out of third period.
"Where are we going?" She asked as he pulled her into the car.
"No time to explain." He replied as he stepped on the gas. Her head spun; what happened had to be something bad if even Kai could not explain it. In less than two or three minuets the reached the hospital. Kai had firm grip on her arm as they ran in the direction of the boy's hospital room. A doctor stood out in front with the boy's parents, they looked over at her and shook their head.
"No…" She darted into the room just as a nurse was pulling a sheet over his head. She ran over to the lifeless body and clutched it tight. Shaking it she called out his name. No response. "Please don't leave me." Still no response. Tears began pouring out of her eyes just like the constant rainfall outside.
Her heart broke that Thursday; she was in love with that boy, so much that with out him she felt broken. Maybe that was why she kept refusing to believe he was gone and continued calling out to him.
Friday morning she awoke from her bed and prayed that it was all a dream, a really bad dream. But her parent's faces confirmed it; her beloved was no longer part of this world. She looked down at the newspaper to see on page C2 a small picture of him with a few small paragraphs under it in the obituary section. Was that all his life meant? A few paragraphs? To her he was so much more than those three paragraphs. He was more than a boy; he was someone with a dream, someone with heart, and someone that didn't deserve to part ways with this world… not yet.
During first period an announcement was made informing the whole student body of his death. The girl couldn't bear anymore news of the incident. She turned up her handheld radio and tried to focus on the world outside the window. The rain hadn't stopped since Monday… it hadn't stopped ever since he was hit. She placed her head down letting tears fall from her eyes. The music stopped for a brief second and an announcer began to talk, "Yes, I believe it's safe to say that this is indeed, the largest amount of rainfall Tokyo has received since 1992."