Singing in the Rain

It’s been one year. One long year since they left him with their big smiles and laughter that made him grin even if he was upset. One long year since the last time he left the house. One long year since the three skipped in the rain.

They had it planned for weeks. They would head out and go to the lake where they would swim and have a barbecue. Then she would giggle as she rode on his back where she would eventually fall asleep. She would scream when he tried to take her deeper in the water, but then smile when he would kiss her softly.

But the day never happened because the weather man messed up the conditions. Instead of a bright and sunny day, they got a rainy day. They waited until noon for the rain to stop, when it didn’t, they put their things away and thought of how to spend the day.

The decided on just watching television. They sat and watched an older Bugs Bunny show. His arm was around her shoulder and she was sitting on the floor, staring at the screen and laughing when Bugs Bunny was dressed as a girl. He got too much into the show and didn’t see his little girl walk to the window and start to watch the rain.

When the show ended, she walked over to the couch and smiled at him with her baby teeth grin.

“Papa,” She said. “Can we dance in the rwain?” He wanted to say no, but she answered for him with a yes. There was no way he could argue once she had her little yellow jacket on and Dora the Explorer umbrella in her hand.

Outside, she was splashing in puddles, laughing and smiling, the umbrella long forgotten. He smiled and jumped in puddles with her, holding her hand as they jumped. She came and held his hand. All three were jumping, laughing, dancing, and smiling.

He left them be to go to the bathroom. When he returned, he saw her trying to teach her ‘Singing in the Rain’, her favorite song. He didn’t walk to join them, not yet. They danced and she sang the song. The little girl started to sing small parts of it. The smile didn’t leave his face, even when they walked in the road for better splashing.

He stood on the porch, watching the two girls he loved most jump in the puddles and sing the song. Never before had he loved the rain more than he did now. He was so wrapped up with watching them splash and tip their heads back to catch rain drops on their tongues, that he didn’t notice an eighteen wheeler speed down the road.

When he did notice it, his smile disappeared. He jumped off the porch, trying to run fast enough to catch them. He was yelling as loud as he could and hurting his throat. She was holding their daughter, almost finished with the song. They stopped and looked at him before they noticed the truck. Their screams were barely heard before the truck skidded to a stop.

Two crosses sat on the side of the road, right in front of the house. He hasn’t left the house since their funeral. That day was the end of his happy life. He hasn’t smiled. He hasn’t laughed. No joke or phone call from a friend could even make the corners of his lips move a little.

The bedroom with Dora the Explorer wallpaper has dust now covering the toys. The blanket still was lying on the floor. A teddy bear still sat on top of the toy box. The cloths lying on the floor and in the closet still laid there, untouched like the rest of the room. The door was left open that day, and that was how it would stay, even if it made his eyes water and a cheerful laughter fill his ears every time he walked by.

The master bedrooms door was shut that day. He didn’t dare to open it. He was too terrified that if he did, there they would be, laughing happily, their jackets ruined, and blood dripping on the floor. No, he didn’t want that, so he slept in the guess bedroom.

All his cloths were ordered online the day after his little girl was finally at peace and joined her mother as they walked off to a better place. When the food in the fridge ran out after three months, he ordered take out. His job allowed him to work at home. The mailman learned to stop putting mail in the mailbox, and laid them on the front door step.

The house was in black and white through his eyes. There was no laughter, no cartoons on the TV. The only sound was his bare feet hitting the wooden floor, and the soft sighs he would let out when he would look out the window. No pictures hung on the wall, if there were, he would never stop crying. The only light was the one in the fridge and the one coming from the TV when the news was on.

When it rained, he felt worst. He blamed the rain. If it wasn’t for the rain, the love of his life and the sweet angel he was proud to call his daughter would both be with him at this moment. He cursed at it and wished the rain would stop forever. Maybe then, he would feel better.

Like every day, he woke up in the middle of the afternoon, checking the other side of the bed to see if it had all been a dream. It wasn’t.

He stepped out and went to the bathroom. There, he showered for the first time in a week, and shaved for the first time in a month. Looking in the mirror, he wished that he didn’t leave them and that he died instead of them. Just like every day.

He got on his computer and ordered pizza for his breakfast. When the pizza arrived, he gave them the money, noticing it was raining. To make his day become worse was when the pizza guy walked out into the rain, his umbrella closed and at his side, and started to sing ‘I’m Singing in the Rain’. He slammed the door shut and went to eat his breakfast.

As the night came, the rain fell faster and harder. The sound of raindrops hitting his roof hurt his heart, and turning on the television to drown the sound didn’t help. He got the message. Endless rain that wouldn’t shut up, that song, and of course, the date on the calendar. One year ago today, his wife and daughter were killed by a speeding truck driver.

He put on the shoes that he hadn’t worn in a year, and put his suit and tie on. If he was going out, he might as well visit his work. Ignoring how tight his shoes were, (maybe it was time to buy some new ones) he grabbed his umbrella and walked out the door.

He sighed once and began walking down the street. When he walked by the crosses, he was happy it was raining. The rain didn’t show the tears he was sheading. He didn’t stop and continued to walk.

The town had changed so much since the accident. Billboards held new advertisements, some bars had shut down, others had grown, and some had been given new names. His workplace was even different. A new wing seemed to have been added. Across the street, they seemed to have been building something else.

He turned around. Even if it’s been a year, he wasn’t ready for this. He wasn’t ready to see his co-workers and see all the change his town has had. Not yet.

Ignoring the rain, he started to head home, the place where he can be alone in his own misery and not have to worry about changes. Halfway down the street, he froze. From his right ankle down, he was cold and soaking wet. His foot had stepped in puddle with a great splash.

Something took over him, and for the first time in a year, he felt like smiling. He didn’t. He couldn’t. It was still too soon. But he splashed in the puddle again. And again. Then, he jumped over to another puddle. He closed his umbrella and continued to jump in the rain.

He started to dance. He didn’t worry about what people would think of him if they saw him. He danced and jumped in the puddles. His suit felt as if it weighed a ton, but he didn’t care. His hair was sticking to his face, but that didn’t matter. He was having too much fun to care about anything.

He started to whisper, just soft enough for he could hear himself, but that wasn’t enough. He wanted to world to hear him. He wanted the two girls to hear him. He wanted to sing at the top of his lungs. He didn’t. He sang loud enough for someone walking on the street could wonder what he was doing. But to him, he felt as if he was singing at the top of his lungs.

He stopped singing the song, and listened to the rain. After a year of not even bothering to laugh or smile, he was having the time of his life, singing, dancing, smiling, and laughing. He dedicated his song to his wife and daughter, and finished the song they never did.

“I'm happy again!” Maybe it wasn’t truthful, but he had to finish the song. “I’m singing and dancing in the rain!”

He danced. Unlike her, he didn’t know every step in the song, but he danced the parts he knew. The parts he didn’t, he made up. He could hear the music in his head mix with the laughter of the two. He could see her holding the little angel as she danced, trying to show him how to do it right. At the end of the song, he stopped dancing and started walking.

He continued to walk down the road, swinging the umbrella in his hand just like the guy did in the musical. His smile was grand and real. He couldn’t remember a time when he was this happy.

“I’m dancing,” A pair of headlights appeared in front of him as he sang the last line. He continued to walk in the middle of the road. “And singing,” The headlights were closer. “In the rain.”

His eyes closed, ready to feel the pain of the vehicle hitting him. His smile faded as he opened his eyes. An eighteen wheeler had stopped, just inches away from hitting him. The man in the truck opened his door at yelled at him, asking him if he was trying to get himself killed.

He shook his head and started to walk to the truck. He stopped at the man’s door and smiled at him.

“I’m just dancing and singing in the rain.” He said in a sing-song voice before walking away. When he reached the crosses, he smiled and thanked them both. He thanked them for always putting a smile on his face. For making him dance. For loving him enough to let him live. For making him love the rain again.

He walked inside, turned on the TV and left it on cartoons. He walked to the guess bedroom and changed his cloths. Then he went to the master bedroom, where he fell asleep, listening to the rain splatter softer and softer against the roof before it stopped.