A Collection Of Short Stories

Rain

Another assignment for my creative writing class!

The storm clouds had been looking ominous all day, warnings of the rain that was sure to come. As Desha walked to and from school, she took in all the umbrellas hanging loosely in people hands and wondered if they might actually need them today. After seven hours of waiting she was beginning to think the clouds might just float away and rain on some other place.

Two hours later, Desha left home to go to work like usual and it still wasn’t raining, not a single drop had fallen from the sky. She shook her head as she drove along the perfectly dry road, it definitely wasn’t going to rain- no matter what the forecast had said. The clouds might look like they were ready to pour water down on the town, but Desha knew better. She knew it hardly ever rained in Grantham and to expect even a drizzle in this drought was foolish.

She reached the supermarket where she worked and hurried inside to suffer. She hadn’t always hated this job, but for the past two months there was a new employee making her life miserable. This new employee was older, nicer, prettier and all around better than Desha- or so she believed. The new employee, Evana, seemed to go out of her way to show she was a better employee than Desha and that latter had come to the point she detested working next to such an efficient person.

Still, Desha kept a smile plastered on her face as she rushed about, helping customers and being outdone by the other employee. It had to end sometime, she reassured herself. Bad things didn’t last forever, even if they seemed to. There had been over three years of drought and three months of working side by side (or rather behind) Evana- Desha was starting to hate the number three.

As she stacked cans of chicken soup into a nice triangle, Desha watched as Evana helped the newest employee around. Micah had only been working with them for a few days, but he was in several of Desha’s classes at school and they’d been friends for a little over a year. She was eccentric when he got the job at the supermarket, but then Evana had managed to be the one the show him the ropes, even though Desha had been working there longer.

Desha gasped as a few soup cans clattered to the ground because of her divided attention. With red cheeks, she bent to pick them up, only to hear a small giggle. She looked up, right at Evana and Micah. The first of which was trying to hide her laughter behind her hand.

Evana quieted her laughter to ask, “Do you need help picking them up?” However, Micah was already bent and gathering soup cans. He placed them back on the counter Desha had been stacking them on.

“I was distracted,” Desha mumbled, embarrassed that they had seen her mess up again.

“What were you thinking about?” Micah asked as he balanced one of the soup cans near the base of the triangle, stopping the whole thing from falling over again.

Desha scrambled for an answer and glanced out a nearby window. “I was… thinking that it would be really nice if it rained.”

“It would be,” Micah agreed, his gray eyes sparkling like small storm clouds as he laughed.

“We need to get back over there,” Evana stated, glancing between the two younger workers with disdain. Micah smiled apologetically at Desha and let Evana pull him away. Desha returned to the soup cans, a fluttery feeling in her chest.

Several hours later, Desha had finally finished up her shift and was headed back to her car. Except she only made it to the glass doors before she had to stop and simply stare outside in wonder. Rain was coming down in buckets, illuminated by the steady glow of the streetlamps. Desha was entranced by the almost magical sight.

“Hey, you’re kind of blocking the door.” The voice came from behind Desha, making her jump.

She turned around to apologize when she saw it was only Micah and that he was wearing a teasing smile. “Sorry, I was just shocked.”

“You don’t mind getting in the rain, right?”

“No, I guess not, why?” She’d barely finished asking the question when Micah took her hand and tugged her out into the chilly night. Instantly water was hitting their faces, hair, clothes.

Over the sound of rain hitting the cars and the wind howling against the building, Micah asked, “Where are you parked?”

Soundlessly, Desha pointed to her left and they took off running. As they did, Desha couldn’t help laughing like a little girl. It was finally raining! And Micah obviously didn’t think she was foolish simply because of a few soup cans. Work would definitely be more fun if he held her hand like this more often.

The rain, Desha decided, had been the reason for her sudden happiness. It had made things seem shiny and new and beautiful- and she would enjoy it for as long as it lasted.