3/28/13

Drowning in the Rain
By Linda M. Crate


He had always loved her.

Since the day he had met her. Of course, he hadn’t told her for he knew that she would find it strange or maybe even disturbing and creepy. He didn’t want to chase her off before she even knew that he existed.

Shannon Dubrey was his dream girl, there was no doubt about it. She was beautiful and charming and oozed with oodles of charisma. Her long flowing red gold hair held a tantalizing sway for him as she walked, and her emerald eyes gleamed with enthusiasm. It was as if she were cut out of a novel or movie, and then breathed into life once she had set her feet upon the earth.

He had been skittish about asking her out.

After all, she was a knock out. She had plenty of other fish to choose from. He was awkward, he laughed weird, and despite the fact that he held a boyish handsomeness to him — he was a geek, plain and simple.

Girls like her didn’t love geeks like him, that he was certain of.

Yet she had said yes. That had almost taken him off guard. However, once he had absorbed the fact that she had said yes and hadn’t shot him down...well, that’s when he grinned like a fool. He couldn’t help himself. He felt like the luckiest guy in the world.

At first their relationship had gone quite well. They spent a lot of time together talking, cuddling, going out to restaurants, and watching movies. There was plenty of communication going on. It lasted like this for a little over a year.

Then Shannon started acting funny — less open, more of a closed book. She didn’t laugh as much at his corny jokes if she even laughed at all, she didn’t smile at him, even the enthusiasm seemed to be sucked from her eyes. She was kind still, but kindness didn’t make his heart beat in his chest like a drum.

Still he wanted to give her a chance. She had been bogged down with work, after all. It was better to give her the benefit of the doubt.

One night he came home from work and heard a loud crash from the bedroom followed by a loud giggle. Blinking his surprise, he first thought he may have misheard, and the television was left on. However, on closer inspection of the tv he realized it was off. He hurried off to the bedroom and found Shannon on his bed with another man, his bed.

First shock washed over him, then sadness which slowly churned into rage.

“Get out!” he snarled. “Both of you! Out of my house!”

The man had no problem obliging him, but Shannon remained behind.

“Stephen, wait.”

“No.”

“Please, I’m sorry. I love you,” she remarked, jade eyes full of crystallized tears.

“And I was born yesterday,” he retorted. “I trusted you, I loved you. The only thing you’re sorry about is getting caught. If you had loved me then you wouldn’t have done this. If you cared anything about me, at all, you would have told me why our relationship took a nose dive and how so I could try to fix it. No, you’re not sorry. I’m sorry for ever believing in you.” With that, he withdrew from the room and walked into his living room.

She slowly left, and he could feel her turn every so often to gaze at him. He wouldn’t give her the satisfaction of seeing his eyes. When the door slammed, he finally looked up.

He then lowered his head again and began to cry. He pulled out the engagement ring he had been saving for Valentine’s Day, and threw it at the wall. He should have known it had been too good to be true, but even romantic fools had a right to dream.

He was sure the sun would rise again, but for now he was more than willing to drown in the rain.


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Linda Crate is a Pennsylvanian native currently migrated to Maine. She has a degree in English-Literature and her poetry and short stories have appeared in many publications the latest of which include: Birds Eye reView, Mirror Dance, Blue & Yellow Dog, Crisis Chronicles Online Library, Super Flash Fiction, and Dead Snakes.