[ WP ] `` It 's just the rain ''

'I told you this would happen,' I said, my hand against her face. 
 
'I know,' she replied, her pupils like drops of ink on a blank sheet of paper: a letter unwritten, a voice unheard. 
 
 My hand shakes against her cheek, or her cheek shakes beneath my hand. We are one and the same, and all lines are blurred. Parting is never sweet, only sorrow. 
 
'If I do n't go...' 
 
 She nods. She knows. 
 
'I'll be back. It wo n't last long. Over by Christmas, they say.' 
 
 Her nod is smaller this time, as if she does n't quite believe it. Her silence is worse than words. The sky hangs over us like a sheet of ugly black metal, holding and constraining us, tearing us apart. 
 
'I love you. I'll be back soon. Please do n't cry.' 
 
 She shakes her head and her jaw, making herself strong for me when I ca n't be strong enough for her:'It's just the rain.' 
 
 I kiss her, then. She holds me for as long as she can with her lips, trying to keep me close with love. 
 
'I'll see you for Christmas,' I tell her, and walk away with both our lies dangling in the air like raindrops that ca n't bear to make their way to the ground.
