Summer Rain
Ue o muite arukou (I look up when I’m walking)
Namida ga kobore nainoyouni (To stop my tears from falling)
Omoidasu harunohi (Remembering the spring)
Hitoribotchi no yoru (On this lonely night)*
* * *
I remember it like it was yesterday, although it happened all of three years ago. A flash of lightning, a clap of thunder, and from a short distance away, the violent patter of hailstones. I took off my glasses and put them in the inside pocket of my trench coat. Never mind that awful episode of vertigo that I went through back then, as my cane slipped and slithered along the pavement as the hail pelted me from everywhere. A minute later, the ice warmed up and turned to rain. I continued walking along drenched; a broken man with a walking stick, punishing himself for a heart he never meant to break.
I looked up to the skies and felt the familiar sting of salty tears in my eyes, like I was literally and figuratively rubbing salt on my own wounds. By the time I got to the woods, the needles from the pine trees were dense enough to act as a decent shade. Dense enough for my dense self to take my phone out of my pocket and read that text message over and over again…
“Kung inipon ko lahat ng luha ko sa iyo, babaha.”
With that, the rain stopped. The puddles near my rain-soaked boots showed a glimmer of sunshine from up above. I propped myself up with the cane, and went on my way. My wet hair hung over my face, the long locks concealing my eyes reddened from the tears I’ve tried to hide. There was nothing to do but move on, slowly but surely, knowing that the summer’s worst rain was over.
I’ve always hated summer rains.