RAIN INCHES DOWN MY WINDOW, dark clouds gather in the sky. I leave to catch it before it’s gone.

Along the beach it comes down harder and I’m soaked all the way through. I look into the sky. Nobody’s here.

The flowers are brighter, the earth is alive. I pass a man and his son and we wave. We’re all smiling big, believing we’re in on some secret. We laugh. This is kind of ridiculous.

The dad is here, but I see two kids.

I see life emanating from their chests.

I walk along the train tracks dancing to the rhythm of my heart, the rhythm of the rain; I feel like running.

A deep inhale brings me in. Life doesn’t make sense sometimes; it feels like I have to catch the passing rain. The day becomes an adventure. It’s all part of the dance, nothing matters, life is beautiful.

I pass another man.

He, too, smiles extra large.

“You weren’t out in the rain! I was,” he says. I wonder who he’s looking at because I’m soaked.

“I was! I am!”

“It’s just a little rain,” he says and walks away.

The intoxicating smell of firewood and flowers drift through the air. The rain’s the key. The earth opens.