Seasons

He liked to play in the rain in the spring. You know, those icy cold rains that flood the front yard, and make that super sticky mud that clings to your shoes? He loved to go and play in rain like that.

I don’t blame him. Those rains were the most amazing things I’ve ever experienced. The air was warm and blowing around you while the freezing droplets soaked your hair. Your flesh rose in goose bumps but you weren’t uncomfortably cold. So I can’t say I blamed him.

My love, his long dark hair plastered to his face, his milk colored skin dripping with clear droplets his emerald eyes glowing, loves it when he sees it’s raining. Wordlessly, he takes off his shoes and runs out into my yard.

Ville always, always, always stands right in dead center of the yard; his arms spread wide, his head thrown back, like he’s ready to embrace the whole wide world. I would believe it, too.

Sometimes I find myself blown away by how much he loves people. Especially me. I went through my whole life thinking I would never, could never be loved so fully. No one would ever trust me with their entire being. Then there was Ville.

And everything I thought about myself was wrong. How was it, I wondered as I watched my love in the rain, becoming drenched as he danced around, the mud sticking to the bottoms of his feet, that one man could turn my whole world upside down? When had I given someone that power over me?

He saw me watching and beckoned. I had to smile and shake my head. Did he think I was insane? Even though it was noon, the world was dark, as it often was during these spring storms that came in so fully. I noticed they seemed to give up after a while, taper off to a light rain before drifting away.

But my love won’t be told no. You’d be surprised at how stubborn he can be when he wants to. He came into my house, dripping went and leaving muddy foot prints. Wordlessly, he grabbed my hand and pulled me out into the rain.

I shivered instantly. Ville seemed to take pity on me. He wrapped his arms around me, pressing my face into the hollow of his throat. I nestled there, feeling his pulse, his life against my face.

“Don’t worry!” he called over the sound of the rain hitting our bodies and tiny green leaves that had just begun to appear.
“I’ll keep you safe.”

And for some reason, I believed him. I believed he would do everything he could to keep me safe, warm, dry and close. I believed that he would stay with me. He wouldn’t leave me.

Ville began to move, and I moved with him. The rain came down on us, none of it mattered, all that mattered was the arms around me. We were dancing together, in the rain.