running in the rain

it all began with the first clap of thunder, while the dark skies went ablaze with flashes of white, hot, light. the temperature changed. the air changed as the heavy silence after the thunder hushed almost everyone as it heralded the oncoming storm. lighting flashed again, the following thunder rolled in, much crisper this time. people began to move faster, walk more hastily, seeking cover, finding shelter, while ross and i kept steadily in our pace.

the wind's direction changed, like the turning of an invisible rudder. above us, though we could not see it, clouds billowed and churned as the storm grew angrier and louder, it seems, with every passing minute... with every passing minute we ignored its fury. we, ros and i, as well as other runners who too kept to their routine, horses of a giant carousel, ignorant or feigning ignorance to the violence that is building overhead... and then it came. a gust of wind blew in the first drops. the head phalanx was rushing on its way.

the rain fell heavy. it was strong, cold and unrelenting, but so were we. we ran in the rain. we ran in its almost solid wetness as drops got pounded into our soaking clothes, almost piercing into our wet, wet skin. water ran down into our eyes, it flowed into our mouths, into every willing orifice, hoping i guess, the discomfort would slow us down, but it did not. we kept to our pace. the trees rustled and shook, spraying the road with huge drops apart from the ones already falling. they hit you, almost like pebbles of hard liquid, stoning you, but we kept to our pace.

i began to slow down after that, the cold now setting in, my muscles now beginning to fatigue. i began to fall away, but you kept to your pace, and for the first time tonight, i was able to watch you run from behind. i was able to see the joy that beamed from your person as you drove yourself into the oncoming rain. you ran into puddles of deep water, purposefully splashing them with your new shoes. you stretched your arms forward and told me of how you, as a child, would pretend to be driving planes when would you run back then. you then began running in and out of the lane, criss-crossing about, ignorant of people watching, ignorant of the violence from above, ignorant from the deluge below, from the harsh cold wind, from the rough rustling leaves, from the steady admirer beaming at you from behind.

i have never seen you so happy.... and so was i.