THIS IS AN ORIGINAL WORK OF FICTION. IT CONTAINS DESCRIPTIONS OF SEXUAL ACTS BETWEEN TWO CONSENTING ADULTS. IF YOU HAVE NOT REACHED THE AGE OF CONSENT IN YOUR AREA (18 YEARS OLD / 21 IN SOME AREAS) OR IF READING SUCH LITERATURE IS ILLEGAL IN YOUR AREA THEN PLEASE LEAVE IMMEDIATELY AND RETURN WHEN IT IS LEGAL TO DO SO. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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THE RAIN FALLS: Chapter One
How I came to be sitting on this bench I don't know. The last thing I remember was the feeling of having to get out; having to get away as fast as I could so that the gravity of the news I had just received didn't tear me to pieces. It was one of the few times in my life where I had trouble comprehending what I was hearing. It wasn't that I didn't hear it right but that I didn't want to accept it. I didn't want it to be true. It just simply couldn't be.
Sitting here on this bench, listening to the waves crash against the rocks below me as a thunderstorm unfolded around me, had a calming feeling. It gave me the mental clarity to be able to think. When I awoke this morning things were the same as they always were. My life wasn't perfect but I felt in control, something I definitely did not feel at the moment.
Without warning the storm suddenly let loose and the rain started falling in giant driving waves. I was soaked within seconds, and the rain brought me back to this bench and just why I was sitting here. I was sitting in my office this Friday afternoon, finishing some paperwork and looking forward to a long relaxing weekend when my cell phone rang.
"Hey Celia, what's up?" I said, recognizing the number as that of the sister of my closest friend and confidant Ben Holt.
"Lucas, I really hope that you are sitting down."
I immediately picked up on the distress in her voice and stopped what I was doing to devote my full attention to her.
"What's wrong Celia?"
"Lucas, I... I don't know how to tell you this so I'll just say it. Ben was in a car accident. He's in surgery and they don't expect him to make it."
I was shocked. My phone fell from my hand, landing on the floor somewhere under my desk. The next thought to run through my head was that it wasn't true and that I had to get out of here. If I went somewhere else maybe it wouldn't be true. The next thing that I know I was sitting here on this bench.
This bench. The exact spot where I first met ben five long years ago. My parents had died in a plane crash the month before and it was on this bench where I spent many hours coming to terms that I was now all alone in this world. It was that fateful sunny day when Ben happened to be walking along the trail that runs past this bench and decided that I needed company.
"You know, it's illegal to look that down on a day this beautiful."
Those were his very first words to me. I was too lost in my own head to find them funny or cheerful and just sat there, staring out to sea.
"I'm Ben" he said, offering his hand.
I loosely took it, mumbled "Lucas" and went back into my head.
"Well it's nice to meet you Lucas. Now, would you care to tell me why the cutest guy in the area looks like his dog just got run over by a truck, or am I going to have to just sit here quietly and enjoy my view of you?"
Knowing that there was probably very little I could do that would get him to go away part of myself warmed up slightly inside. Even his few brief, slightly cheesy words were enough for me to register that even his presence alone was enough to signify that I would not, in fact, spend my 22nd birthday alone. I also decided that I should tell someone what I was going through, what I was feeling. Given that this perfect stranger was here, I might as well tell him.
"Until you came along I had resigned myself to spend today, my birthday, alone."
"Well then, happy birthday to you but why are you spending it alone? Surely there must be someone in your life to spend the day with."
I glanced over at him, this mysterious stranger named Ben who I was about to reveal the source of my recent anguish upon. He was smiling what had to have been the most perfect smile I had ever seen. That, pared with his hazel eyes, lightly tanned skin, and dirty blonde hair made me decide to share my pain with him. I rationalized it by asking myself what the worst that could happen was. I could tell him and in the end he could get up and walk away, and I could move on down the path of healing.
"No, there's no one. Not since my parent's died in a plane crash last month."
The smile faded from his face and he offered his condolences.
"I'm so sorry. Do you want to talk about it?" He flashed that winning smile at me, getting me to share more.
"They died and I've spent the last four years buried in my studies. Until you sat down there was no one outside of classmates and professors in my life. That's basically all of it."
"Again, I'm so sorry. How about I try to cheer you up? Come with me, and let's celebrate your birthday like it should be celebrated."
"Okay." What did I have to lose? The company was a welcomed change and I was to the point that I'd do just about anything to take my mind off of my parents.
With that we went off and spent the rest of the day together. I had gained an instant friend and was able to move past the loss of my parents. And it was that memory of that day that I found myself sitting on this bench, soaked to the bone and staring down at the waves as their swirled blue and green mist topped peaks crashed against the rocks.
TO BE CONTINUED