The Rains

The fields were hot that afternoon. The hands breathed heavily like dogs panting from too much rabbit chasing. Cara stood and shielded her eyes against the suns. In the bright blue sky she could see dark, grey masses billow and flashing in the distance. She cursed. The harvest had come too late that year.

“Cara! Come inside! The Rains will be here soon!” her sister yelled.

“I see it,” Cara said, “We still have some time. Get the lesser hands into shelter and make sure the windows are bolted.”

Several of the fieldhands took their great baskets filled to the brim with ambrosia and began the long slow journey to the huts at the edge of the meadows. The gods had hoped to feast that evening to celebrate the end of yet another peaceful season but the supply of ambrosia had been sparse. This was only the second harvest of the spring months and the Rains had come early.

Cara cursed again and picked the fruits with greater energy. At least she could work her hardest; the gods could not deny her that. The sounds of rolling thunder galloped across the vast meadows like a band of horses, herlading the oncoming storm. Once th Rains reached the ambrosia fields the crop would be lost, and they must wait another two months before they could harvest again.

“Why must they come so soon this year?” Cara asked herself.

A voice from behind her responded, “Because the world is changing. Didn’t anyone tell you that?”

A pair of hands wrapped themsleves around Cara’s slender waist and hoisted her off the ground in one great motion. Cara let out a yelp and began beating her fists against the hands that held her. “Let me down, Farian. I don’t have time for this!”

“Oh, you never have time for a little jest! Maybe some play would do you some good!” Farian said as he whirled her around in fast circles. He set her back down, and Cara dizzily took a swing at Farian’s face. Surprisingly to both, it connected but not hard.

“Oof, ha ha. Even when addled the lovely Cara still has some fight in her!” He laughed as he dodged the second swing.

“Stop it this instant!” Cara yelled, “The Rains will be here soon and we still have picking to do.”

“To hells with the picking. I think the gods will survive if they miss one feast.”
“The gods will but I may not. You know how they can be when their hungry.”

Cara resumed her picking, mindful of how quickly the storm was approaching. Farian was watching her.

“Either leave or help me. You know I don’t like it when you stare at me.”

“You say that as if I could help it.” Farian smiled, “Anyone who wouldn’t stare at such a beauty must be missing a pair of eyes.”

Cara blushed, but she would be damned if she let Farian see, “Does every woman fall for that tongue of yours?”

“Some,” he said.

Cara kept picking the red fruit and Farian kept watching. From a distance over the sound of thunder came the low bellow of a horn; a great, yawning sound. “I suppose that’s all we can do for this harvest,” Cara said. She cupped her hands and yelled to the other fieldhands, “That’s enough, get back to shelter! We’ve done all we could.” The hands that had remained gathered their baskets and began to walk back. Cara stooped to pick two last ambrosia and place them in her basket.

“You’ve never stayed out in the Rains, have you?” Farian asked suddenly.

“Of course I haven’t. Everyone knows how dangerous that is,” Cara answered without even looking at him.

“What if I told you it wasn’t dangerous?”

“I suppose you want me to believe YOU have braved the Rains?”

“And what if I did? Would you think me brave?”

“I’d think you stupid. More stupid than I first thought.”

“I’m glad to hear you think of me.” He grabbed her again, only this time he hoisted her into his arms and began running. Running towards the bellowing clouds that were now almost overhead.

“What are you doing, Farian?” Cara asked, beating his chest, “You’ll get us both killed!”

“We won’t die, love. I promise you.”

“Alright, believe you,” Cara said hastily, “I believe you’ve been in the Rains, just put me down!”

“Not until you see it. Not until you’ve seen what I’ve seen.”

The clouds were above them now. The bright blue sky was cut by a great cloud of black before them, with lightining forking and spraying overhead. Great claps of light and booming sound filled Cara’s senses and she felt liek screaming. She could do nothing in Farian’s grasp but hide her face in his tunic. That’s when she felt it. The water burst from the sky in great sheets and burned her skin as it came into contact. Farian was running faster as he heard her cries. Suddenly, he slid and came to a stop and Cara no longer felt the sting of the burning Rain but she could hear its sound clearly. She lifted her face from Farian’s chest to see that they were under a small cloak stretched out from a stone that was hidden in the field. There was just enough room for them both huddled close beneath its protection.

“Are you alright?” Farian asked, “I thought I could make it before the Rains began.”

“I hurt a little, but unharmed,” she said, pulling small patches of hair that burned from her head. “What is wrong with you? How will we survive the Rains here? If the fields flood there will be nothing left of us but bones and ash.”

“The fields will not flood,” Farian answered with an alarming conviction, “I wanted you to see the reason of the Rains.”

Cara looked at him with questioning eyes, but he said no more. They both stared out into the mist of red water that poured from the sky, burning the meadows of ambrosia as white steam and smoke rose into the blackened sky. Back at the shelters, Cara knew that the hands were now preapring the evening feast, boiling the ambrosia down to a syrup and basting all food with its divine taste. Meats would be more flavorful, fruits would burst with succulent juices, vegetables would lose all staleness and perfectly compliment each dish. Ambrosia had no taste of its own, but only perfected the taste of every dish it was prepared with. Cara’s mouth began to water and in that instant she hated Farian for stealing her away from the season’s feast.

“There’s nothing to see here, Farian,” Cara said with a note of anger, “We get to eat with the gods once a season, and you took me from it.”

“And did you ever wonder why they gods only eat with us once a season; only when the Rains come?” Farian asked, “Its because they want no one to see this.”

As if beckoned by the sound of his voice, the Rains stopped and the thundering ceased. The dark clouds moved on past their small canvas, but the blue sky did not follow them. Instead, it was as if the fields were lost in a great expanse of glittering diamonds, millions upon millions or shining lights glittered and black expanse above. Cara stared up in wonder. The suns were no where to be found only the magnificent shine of the million lights.

“What… what is this?” Cara asked

“I believe its called ‘Night.’ I’ve read stories of a time when the suns do not shine and the world is cloaked in darkness with the watchful eyes of something called ‘stars.’ I believe those lights are what they are.”

“They’re beautiful.” Cara could not keep from staring. Her eyes were taking it all in, the brilliant lights in the sky. Sometimes it would look like one fell leaving a bright trail stretching from one end of the world to the other. The falling lights would cross and form patterns, like some unseen hand were writing on the heavens. Cara gasped and sat.

“It reminds me of you,” Farian spoke softly, “I said so when I first found this place. I could do nothing but stare at the sky, marveling at how beautiful it was.”

Cara turned to him and saw that he was looking at her. Gently he took her face in his hands and kissed her. Warmth flooded Cara’s face and lips but she stayed. If she did not love Farian she loved this moment, and she was grateful to him for showing it. She kissed him back.

They embraced and looked at the sky together. Cara’s mind was crowded with questions and she could not ask them fast enough, “How long does this ‘Night’ last? Does it come after every Rain? Why does it only come once a season? And why would the gods not want us to see this?”

Farian sighed at the last question, “I’m not sure, but I believe its because the Night is more beautiful than they are.”

Cara became silent at this thought. The gods beauty was all she knew until this moment. It felt as those this Night made life different, like it somehow changed her just because it existed. When the suns came back, she would be the same Cara but a different one too. She knew that there was a whole other world that the gods prevented her from seeing. Was there something even beyond the fields, in the lands where the Rains came from?

Cara yawned. She didn’t know how tired she became from a day of picking and she lay her head on Farian’s shoulder. In her last few moments awake Care stared at the night sky and wondered.