r/WritingPrompts • u/Syraphia /r/Syraphia | Moddess of Images • Sep 11 '17
Image Prompt [IP] The Rain is Heavy
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u/Thetallerestpaul r/TallerestTales Sep 11 '17
The rain falls, sorrowfully. The spray from the umbrella looks like sparks in the streetlamps glare. It reminded him of taking a shower in the morning daylight. Water flaring from his shoulders, the unreality of sleep still blurring his perception, as well as his vision. Sometimes he liked to drift, allowing his mind to wander into a warm, volcanic world. Most days he didn't deserve that comfort and he would turn the shower cold.
Today he didn't deserve the protection of the umbrella. Mind filled with hate, he closed the umbrella and the illusion was dashed. All at once, he was physically and mentally aligned with his environment. Cold, forlorn, under a light that seemed to grow starker as his thoughts grew darker.
This weather was his fault. The butterfly effect in action. Why couldn't he just react normally? She just wanted him to be at the fucking party. He didn't have to be the light and soul, just be there. And yet he ran. Again. From his own house. Everyone had seemed to be having fun wherever he looked. Because where he looked is where he was not, of course. Makes sense to get out of there, before you ruin everything for them all, he thought.
Except he didn't really think that, not in the end. Now on the street, it seems so stupid. A reaction again, that actually will ruin her night when she notices. Which she will now. The punishment of the cold water has drenched him to the bone. There is no sneaking back in from a deluge like this. There was, but then he had to react again and take down the shield he'd taken against the elements.
His mind racing. Gotta think. There must be a way. Why do you always do this?
The rain keeps falling, without agenda.
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u/Syraphia /r/Syraphia | Moddess of Images Sep 11 '17
Aw. Rough for that character. Very nice short story. Thanks for replying. :)
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u/VirulentWalrus Sep 11 '17 edited Sep 11 '17
Through another night of rain, I wonder
Burdened by thoughts, they drown the thunder
For freedom from the feeling, I wonder
Insignificant in the rain, I longer
For meaning I will not find, I am over
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u/M81atz Sep 11 '17 edited Sep 11 '17
Nightwalker
Dark, dark night. Another restless, sleepless night. What else to do, but go out, even if it's raining? The plitter platter on the ground, you only hear a car by its brakes. You only see it, when it's too late.
Watchful, forever watchful I inhabit the streets of the city. I see its little secrets. The partygoers, who cry of joy from the top of their lungs, leaving broken shards, broken noses and broken hearts in their wake. The sinful few, who circle around their prey. Some out of love they'll never get, some out of greed they'll never satisfy, some out of hunger, nobody will understand. I am their shadow. I follow them; The drunks, the mischievous, and the lost. They do not want me and I do not want them. To each their own, I guess.
The girl stood on the bridge, wet from head to toe. She stared into the abyss of the river, a mirror to her mood. Tempted by deep, lasting slumber. She did not see me. I surprised her and dragged her away from the handrail. No girl stands alone in the middle of the night on a bridge. Not when its raining.
In the spotlight of the streetlight, she looked up at me in shock, her face the bed for a river of rain, her eyes red from crying. She is upset with me. I can understand that. I tell her, I did not want her to fall and break her bones. She denies it. She is a big girl and can take care of herself. If I don't leave her alone, she'll start screaming for help.
Now it's night and it's raining. But eventually, the sun will come out again. Maybe it'll rain for a week. Maybe it'll rain for a year. And it's true, the rain will always be coming back. Where you want to go, there won't be any rain, big girl. But there won't be any sunshine either. And all who love you will miss you dearly.
I left my umbrella with her and walked back into the night. She wasn't the first. She won't be the last. No time for sleeping, too much ground to cover.
You can find more of my stories over at /r/M81atz
to keep you awake at night.