One rainy day

I translated this piece from Afrikaans to English, so please excuse any grammatical errors and such, enjoy :)


In contradiction to her mood, which were light and sunny, the day broke grey and full off rain. She received a lot of good news the previous day, she was chosen as captain of the under sixteen South-African girls hockey team and Zander, a friend she had known for two months, had asked her to date him and he would come to visit later in the day.

With his black hair and bright green-blue eyes Zander could weaken the knees of any girl. He was also extremely good in sport. She woke far too early, it would be six hours before Zander arrived. She couldn’t have asked for a better boyfriend, Zander was a stunning guy, had a wonderful personality and he was also very intelligent. Many people said that they were meant to be together, according to most people, she was also a stunning girl with a wonderful personality and highly intelligent. To top it all, both were very good in sport.

The time is going by so slowly. It is still raining, everything is covered with a curtain of grey. The telephone rings and she runs to it. When she answers, she hears Zander’s melodious voice on the other side.
“And how is the most beautiful girl in the world this morning?”
She is so spellbound by his voice that she forgets to answer, he says her name and the spell is broken.
“Hey Zander, how can I be anything but wonderful?”
“I’m only calling to say that I’m almost there, I’ll be at your house within the hour.”
“OK, just don’t go to other places, I’m waiting for you”
“I won’t, I love you’”
“Love you to”

She can’t believe that he is so close. She started running towards her room, she’ll have to check if she looks good enough.

******

Zander is lost in thought as he is driving. He thinks back on the last two months. Sheila with her bright, open personality was the light in that time. He liked her the moment he first saw her and when he got to know her he just liked her more.

He stares at the rain and wonders how long it will continue to fall. He was hoping for a bright and sunny day, the rain didn’t go well with his mood. He arrived in town an hour later; he can’t wait to see Sheila. To his great disappointment the first traffic light he encounters is red; he has to wait a whole twenty seconds longer. The traffic light turns green and he starts driving. He is halfway over the crossing when he notices a truck coming right at him. He instinctively braces himself for the crash that he knows is going to happen. The last thing he is aware off is the predominant thought that he’s not going to see Sheila in the next few minutes.

*****
Sheila is finding it increasingly difficult to sit still, Zander aught to be there at any moment. She hears the phone ringing and hopes that it is not Zander phoning to say that he is going to be late.
There is a knock on her door a few minutes later and her mother enters her room.
“Sheila we have to go to the hospital immediately, they just phoned to say that Zander is there.”
“What!? What happened?”
Her mom shakes her head
“I don’t know. They only said that it is pretty serious and we have to come immediately.”


*****
They are on their way to Zander’s room, they just spoke to the doctor. According to him Zander doesn’t have much of a chance to stay alive, he lost much blood and had many internal injuries.

Zander is awake when they walk into his room.
“Sheila”
“Zander I was so worried”
“Girl, I want you to know, I love you very, very much, never forget that.”
She finds it difficult to control her voice.
“Zander I love you just as much and I promise, I’ll never forget you.”

Zander starts to say something else, but his voice is so soft that she can’t hear what he is saying. In the middle of the sentence he stops speaking and his eyes close. She hears the nurse’s voice behind her: “It’s over”


****
She is standing on a bridge, soaking wet from the still-falling rain, staring at the water flowing beneath it. After she heard the nurse’s words, she stormed out of the hospital. Why did Zander have to die? She stares at the water, all that she has to do, is to jump off this bridge and she will be with Zander. Life without him is not worth anything.


“I wouldn’t do it”
She is jerked back to reality by shock when she hears his voice. A young man is standing next to her. Before she can say anything he starts talking again.
“You know, you are very much like this day at the moment. The day itself is your life, your humanness, the clouds, is your grief and the rain your tears.”
She looks at him and wonders if he is crazy. He speaks again before she can say anything.
“The day will end in a few minutes, without the clouds dissipating. If the day was longer, the clouds could have dissipated and the sun would have shone again.”

She realises what he is trying to say to her. If she jumped from the bridge now, her life would end miserably, but if she went on, she could be happy again. She looked up to thank the man, but he had disappeared. She is alone with only the rain, river and her life-choice. What should she do…?

...very nice.