Now We Have Rain

I hear it before I see it. It's coming...and coming fast. "EVERYONE INSIDE!!" I scream in  frightened delight. We haven't seen it in years. Why is it coming back now?

"Why is it coming back?" My best friend has the same thought as she stands next to me in the middle of the field. "And why aren't you inside?" 

"I want to welcome it." I whisper, opening my arms as wide as they will go. "I'm fifteen, Rachel, and the last time I saw it was when I was three." 

Rachel moves closer to me. "Do you remember it?" 

"I remember joy...and the feeling of hope. I remember dancing...nothing was dry, Rachel! Everything was lush, and green. Yes, I remember the green."
Our feet stir up the dry ground beneath our feet. It is dust...all of it.
"Will...will I like it?"
"Rachel....you'll love it."
And then it came.
Rain.
At first, it was just a light drizzle...a pitter patter at our feet. My eyes are glued shut as I feel droplets fall on my eyelids and catch on my eyelashes. I'm afraid that if I open them...it will all be a dream. A beautiful dream.
"Is it real?" Rachel asks, slowly moving away. "It's...water. Falling from the sky."
"It's rain." I breath, slowly opening my eyes as the rain falls harder and faster, smacking into the ground with dull thuds and turning dusty dirt into mud.
Mud.
I fall to my knees and then roll to my back, feeling the rain soak through my shirt as the real downpour begins. Droplets the size of my fingernails are falling, fast and thick. Everything is wet, and the air is full of the noise of rain.
And the smell.
It's indescribable... I know my whole village is smelling it from the reverent silence they hold. For everyone is slowly emerging from their homes, reaching out their hands to catch as many of the drops as possible. Then the cheer began. It started with the smallest child, and ended with the sternest man. Our whole village is one as we welcome the rain back into our country, and we welcome the green that is soon to follow.
As the rain soaks through my skin and hair, I blink away rain and tears and gaze into the sky.
I know. The rain is here to stay.
No more drought. No more famine. No more starvation.
Now we have rain.

Thanks to a friend for giving me the idea and thanks to all the readers for reading! One of the reasons I love living where I do is because of the rain. It's beautiful and refreshing, and perfect reading and writing weather. Until next time!