The Rainwoman

Sarah was excited. In a few hours, she would see Joseph, her husband-to-be. Wait until he sees me, she thought. She had on tight denim jeans, a black halter top complete with silver hoops on her ears and the beautiful silver necklace Joseph had given her before he left for Canada. She remembered it as if it was yesterday. She cried so hard that day, knowing that he wouldn’t be seeing him for two long years. They promised to write each other everyday and just as she was almost paranoid about him meeting another woman (prostitutes as popularly called by the sea men) while aboard a ship, Joseph surprised her.
“Marry me, Sarah” and that was that. She looked longingly at the simple gold band then onto the parade of people streaming towards the arrival area. Where is Joseph, she wondered. Maybe he is just claiming his luggage, she thought.

Hours passed, but Joseph was nowhere in sight.
“Ah…uhm…is your name Sarah Galura?”
She looked up and saw a tall dark man. “Yes”.
“Ah…I don’t know what to say…but…ah…I’m Ben, by the way. Ah…”
Something is wrong here, she thought. Where is Joseph? She saw him fold and unfold his hands. What’s wrong with this guy? She wondered.
“I’m Joseph’s shipmate”
Her heart hammered inside her. “Where…?”
He groped for something in his huge bag. It was Joseph’s bag.
“Ah…I’m sorry. Joseph fell into the water…There was a storm at that time and he was out walking on the deck…Frankly, I don’t know what really happened…ah…Sorry”.
Sarah wanted to scream. This is not true, she was thinking. “But….we’ll get married…he promised...” she finished almost out of breath.
“I know. Joseph talked about you a lot. He even read all your letters to us especially the ones with the poems…”
Tears poured from inside her.
“Ah…here is his belongings…uhm…the company will send his family a letter, I guess”
“When did…when did he…fell?”
“The other day…after we received the report of our dismissal…it was night time”

Sarah stood up so quickly, grabbing Joseph’s bag. She ran and ran until she couldn’t see where she was going anymore. She fished a tissue from her shoulder bag and sat near the garbage can. She stifled a scream that threatened to escape. After a while, Sarah stood up and hailed a taxi. Then her cellular phone rang. It was Joseph’s friend.

“Hello…Sarah. I forgot to give you something. Can I come to your place?
“Ah…yes.”
She didn’t wait for a reply. She hung up her phone.

As soon as she spotted her place, she grabbed a bill and went out of the taxi. She ran skipping a few steps up her room. She banged the door and hurled herself to bed. No longer in the company of strangers, she cried and screamed and dug her nails into the white teddy bear Joseph gave as monthsary present.
She was like that for days and days. She never ate, bathed or dressed. She still had on her whole ensemble she carefully chose for Joseph’s arrival. Her family was distressed and they did not know how to comfort her. Because Ben came to see Sarah almost every day, they all knew about what happened. Ben was a constant visitor and sometimes he was the one who brought tray after tray of food outside her bedroom door. The food was always left untouched.

One night, Sarah heard a very loud thunder clap. She shuddered, thinking about Joseph in the storm. Then she ran and ran until she was outside her house. She soaked herself with the rain, tasting it then swallowing it. She touched her body, her face and her arms with the rain drops, all the while mumbling Joseph’s name. When the rain stopped she creamed for more, crying, touching and clinging onto her soaked clothes dearly. Joseph, Joseph was all she whispered.

Her mother was shocked, but she didn’t do anything. When her daughter entered the house, she couldn’t see her daughter anymore. Sarah’s eyes held on a manic glaze.
“Oh, mother! I had a wonderful time with Joseph. Isn’t he sweet? Look, look, these flowers – these are from him. Joseph knows how I love white roses”, she smelled the white roses that Ben brought. “Joseph is coming tomorrow, mother. Is my gown here? We’re going to get married tomorrow.”

Sarah’s mother just sat gaping at her daughter. She barely noticed the tears that trickled down her cheeks.

The next day, Ben was earlier than usual. He had another bouquet of white roses for Sarah. He was hoping to catch a glimpse of Sarah before embarking onto the next ship. He was talking with Sarah’s mother when he heard the roar of the sky. Heavy rain poured and poured. Then, after three long months of patiently waiting for Sarah to emerge from the room, he saw her.

She was wearing a beautiful all-white wedding gown with a veil covering her face. She had on the complete ensemble of a bride. She marched as if she was walking towards the altar, not even pausing to look at Ben or her mother. She walked on towards the rain, bowing, kissing her hand then suddenly spreading her arms, looking up in the sky.
“I love you, Joseph”, she shouted.
She danced and danced. She felt the water and touched all of her with it. Ben stared at the beautiful woman dancing gaily in the rain. He wiped a tear and walked towards her seemingly defeated.
“Sarah…come. You’ll get sick”
Sarah took one long look at him as if processing her memory of him. She smiled at him and said “I’ll be fine. Joseph is with me.”
“Sarah...,” Ben choked back a sob. He grabbed Sarah by the elbow making her face him. “Sarah…I…ah…I came to say good-bye.”
Sarah was startled and said, after giving him one long look, “oh. Good bye!” She broke free from his grasp then added, "Good bye, whoever you are". She was smiling and whispering Joseph’s name. She looked up in the sky, her arms spread wide open, loving every minute in the rain and longing for it not to stop.

Ben walked away no longer fighting the racking sobs from deep within him. He looked back, just once, as if hoping that she'll say his name. But Sarah was dancing in the rain, carefree and, sadly, happy. He knew he lost her, the one woman he had loved and would love, forever.

Until this day, Sarah still believes that Joseph is one with the rain and whenever the rain comes, she savors it just like she savors the memory of Joseph.