Rain fell and fell and fell.
Brat wondered if it had got into her skin and replaced her blood. She hoped it would keep falling.
When she’d snuck out of the hole she’d dug, he’d been heading for his bottle. She hoped he drank it all the way to the bottom. Even if he went looking for her, he wouldn’t be able to chase her. His thinking wouldn’t be clear enough to find her hole.
He would think demons were messing with him again and hiding her.
Then when he’d recovered enough, he wouldn’t remember.
If the rain kept falling, he wouldn’t be able to follow her. She knew he tracked animals for food. He always complained about how the rain messed up the tracks.
She tried to hide on those days, but her closet wasn’t big enough to hide.
He told her she was lucky. He fed her, gave her a home.
She didn’t feel lucky.
But how was she to know?
Maybe all the places were like this one. Maybe some of them were worse.
If it was worse, she didn’t know how it could be.
But he told her it was.
She knew trees because they were everywhere she looked when she got to look out the window. Was there anything else?
Brat slipped on the mud again but didn’t stay down. She had to keep moving.
And moving.
When she couldn’t walk anymore, she crawled.
And still the rain fell. Hiding her path. Hiding her.
Her hands bled so the rain hadn’t changed her blood yet.
She pushed to her feet again and kept walking, never looking back.
When the trees disappeared, she stopped. This was new. She didn’t know what it was. Didn’t have the words to tell.
The rain kept falling. Brat kept walking.
When she fell again, there was no mud for a soft landing. It was hard and more blood came from her knees and hands.
Brat swallowed hard and then pushed to her feet. Kept walking.
A noise broke the air and light broke the rain.
Brat couldn’t make her feet move. More noises she didn’t know.
Then a voice. “Are you okay? What are you doing out here? Are you hurt?”
It wasn’t him.
Was it worse than him?
Another voice. “You’re bleeding honey. Come on in the car. We’ll get you to the hospital and get you some help. Don’t worry.”
Brat didn’t know all the words, but the hands on her didn’t hurt.
Brat went with the voices while the rain continued to fall.
***
Tagline: A hard rain is just what she needs
The above is part of the #WEP April Challenge: A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall.
I have to admit I'd never heard of this song before the challenge. It's an intense song with some pretty dark lyrics. I struggled for a bit. And listened to it several times. And still struggled.
The song reminds me of court jesters who were allowed to speak harsh truths disguised as entertainment. We all interpret songs/poetry differently, but this song broke my heart. There's such cruelty in the world.
All of this finally brought me to the story above. I'm a romance author, I'm a teacher, I'm a believer in the power of hope and love and kindness. There will always be a light at the end of my tunnels.
I hope you'll check out the link to find the other stories written for this prompt. And I hope you'll join in!
