AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I get a sidelong glance that burns like a physical thing.
“Believe me, sweetheart, being stuck inside isn’t what I want either.”
I have two days off, and I’d love nothing more than to bundle them up in the car and drive somewhere. Anywhere I can have a coffee without Isabel trying to dunk her cookies into it. But there’s a summer storm forecast, and although it’s hours off, the sky over the mountains is progressively getting darker, an angry cloud moving slowly our way. The wind and rain have picked up in the last hour. I can’t chance driving in that.
We’ve spent the morning painting and making art out of pasta shells, and the afternoon playing Monopoly when Isabel was down for her nap. Any other day, I might find it difficult to get Hannah’s head out of her books, but today it’s raining, so today she wants to go outside.
Isabel joins her sister cross-legged on the floor, staring out at the rain as if they can will it away.
When Isabel starts singing her favorite song,It’s Raining, It’s Pouring, Hannah joins in.
“Look, I think it’s working, Isabel. Keep singing.”
The rain is getting heavier, but I don’t tell them that because seeing them sitting there together warms my heart.
It’s five minutes before Hannah relents. “This sucks. I want to play with Missy.”
I look over at Logan’s. It’s dull inside, no sign of life, but his truck and motorcycle are parked out front so I know he’s home.
After I’ve tidied away after our lunch, even I’m left restless and wondering what we can do.
“Okay, you two. No more long faces. Up you get.”
The storm hasn’t arrived yet. It’s only rain.
Hannah is still giving me the stink eye when I grab our raincoats.
“Shoes on.”
Hannah looks down at her sister like I’m going crazy, and they need to find a way to sedate their mother.
“What are we doing?”
“Going outside.”
Her eyes widen. “We’ll get wet.”
“And? You get wet when you go swimming, don’t you? You want to play outside, let’s play outside.”
Scrambling, Hannah grabs her shoes while I put on Isabel’s and slip her arms into her coat.
By the time we get outside, the wind has calmed.
Hannah stalls, eyeing the dark clouds overhead. Isabel takes off in a wobbly sprint and straight into a puddle, her giggle loud and straight from her belly. She doesn’t have a care in the world.
Her lack of fear toward anything scares the life out of me sometimes, but I’ll be damned if I ever suffocate it.
I grab Hannah’s hand. “Come on, baby girl.”
When she does, we take off in a run into the middle of the open land. Our hoods fly back with the speed, saturating our hair, but Hannah is laughing so hard, her legs have buckled. Our feet kick against the wet grass, sending water flying onto our clothes.
Hands wide at our sides, we tip our heads back, stick our tongues out to taste the rain and spin around. The clouds blur into one, the trees in my peripheral nothing but a green haze.
And we’re happy.
Catching my bearings, I take a single moment to look down at the girls as they spin in circles and snap a quick picture on my phone. The back of my throat stings and a single tear falls, but they’ll never see it as it washes away with the rain.
With my next breath, my lungs open up, my body loose and mind empty of everything other than this moment.
