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When you're in the rain

Linli Chen

1

     In April, in JinZhou, the rain is drizzling.

     In the mountain, the villa, it’s quiet and distant.

     There he stands in the drizzling rain, the rain drops gently on him. There is no brimming with life on his clean and solid face. It seems like he has lost his soul so he couldn’t care less about anything now. The girl in the villa rushes out to the boy with her umbrella.

     “It’s raining. Let’s go inside!” She seems to beg, because she cares too much about him and she can’t bear him being hurt in any possible way.

     He remains silent, like there’s no one surrounding him.

     After a while, the girl can’t hold back her emotions anymore, dropping her umbrella and rushing into the house.

     She knew it all along. She has made the mistake that he would never forgive. In that cold ocean, she was struggling desperately. Suddenly someone took her to get to the land. But at the very last moment, that person pushed her up with the last ounce of her strength. She made it to the shore, sitting on the beach. That beautiful figure disappeared in the endless sea. She was too panicked to think, sitting like a nerd. And then, the boy came, screaming that beautiful name, rushing madly into the sea.      But that girl was brought away forever. 

     The boy closes his eyes. It’s not the sound that the umbrella dropped that he could hear but that familiar sentence: When you’re in the rain, you definitely will think of me!

   

      2

     Xu, the sole heir to his family group, grew up with everything he could imagine. His family planned everything for him. It seems that he knows how his life went when he was born. He was arranged by her family to study in the United States in order to prepare for inheriting the family business back home. He accepted this plan just because he could stay away from his family.

     But he never knew, on the other side of the earth, that he would meet a girl that he would never forget—Yu.

     Yu is supposed to be a well-mannered socialite. But she hates all those labels and sets herself apart from the good girls of the world. She smokes, drinks, gets tattoos and fights with people when gets pissed. Why should we live under people’s expectations? She is the girl that you could never imagine. She can be anyone. She moves effortlessly between the mundane and the self. She has the ability and also the capital.

 

       3

     Someone has said that all encounters in the world are reunions after long separation.

     So it was Xu and Yu. They have never met each other before. But they had each other at the very first sight.

     It was a public service activity when they first met. Yu was wearing a white long dress, and her brown wavy hair was falling freely. 

     He was looking at her, so was Yu.

     All of a sudden, there seemed to be thunder and lightning in the air, sparks flying.

     All of a sudden, there seems to be a breeze blowing towards them, cozy and comfortable.

     After the activity, she showed him around New York city. She took him to get tattoo, to drink, to go skydiving, to do everything he hadn’t done before. They ran in the rain. She said to him :”when you are in the rain, you definitely will think of me!”

     They both laughed. 

     It was a cold New York winter night that he held her hand for the first time. 

     She was wearing gothic makeup, ripped jeans and black leather coat, trembling slightly in the dark night. He hugged her from behind and counted down the new year coming.

     “5,4,3,2,1.”

 

 4

     How many times have I looked at you and thought that was as good as life could get.

     Xu and Yu decided to get married. He arranged his family to meet her.

     She was dressed in flaxen flower dress, with her hair straight. The whole person exudes gentleness. As if this were the real her, she had stripped away all splendour and arrogance.

     However, nobody knows how much she’s changed except Xu.

     He pushed aside her long hair and saw the gently washed away tattoo mark on the back of her neck.

     “I love you.”He whispered to her. Simple and meaningful words.

     Xu’s family was satisfied with Yu. Everyone was happy except her—Jin.  Jin almost lost her mind when she heard the news that they were about to get married. No one can take Xu away from her, even though Xu never belongs to her for any second.

 

5

     Sometimes when we think happiness is right in front of us, and the next second, everything is ruined and gone like the wind.

     Jin is in love with Xu when she was young. She was supposed to marry him if Yu didn't show up. There is nothing she wants that she can’t get. So how could she let them be together this easily? She made bold remarks: If you get married, I will die immediately!

     Xu and Yu ignored her. 

     Jin tricked Yu out in the name of her friend.

     That was a windy afternoon. The wind tossed the waves one after other. Yu came, wearing her white dress. She even forgot that since when she started to dress up like a classic good girl. She had a light makeup but she still looked gorgeous. Jin saw her, jealousy in her eyes burned like a fire. When Yu found out it was Jin, she turned around and walked away.

     “If you go today, you will regret in you whole life!” Jin yelled, seeing Yu walking away.

     “You should be mature.” She turned around and said.

     “If you dare to leave, I will die in front of you, I promise!”

     Yu turned coolly, walked a few meters and turned back. She saw Jin struggling in the water.

     She rushed into the sea without hesitation, swimming to her. She held her and swam to the shore. The water was so cold, and Yu can feel that she can’t take Jin go any further. But her subconscious told her to save Jin. She pushed Jin to the shore with the last of his strength.

     But she was carried away by the sea forever.

 

6

     After Yu died, Xu lost his soul.

     It seems that his heart was drowning together with Yu, but his body is still alive.

     He doesn’t care about anything now, accepting any arrangements from his family. 

     The only thing he could feel was the rain. Because it makes him remember the good times when being with Yu.

     It seems that her voice is still going around him saying: When you are in the rain, you definitely will think of me!

     You know what, I forgot to say: More than thinking of you in the rain, I will never forget about you my whole life.

Contributor Bio

Linli Chen is an English major senior in University of st. Francis. She is from China, and she's been studying in the US for two years. She loves writing fictions and poems. For her, literature is another place for soul resting.

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