A Rainy Day Walk
A walk home from school on a rainy day…
It was a rainy Thursday evening and we were walking home from school. The rain had just subsided and the weather was bleaky at best. In the gutters by the roadside, murky water ran gurgling. It would’ve been a typical monsoon evening walk from school with the sky threatening to pour at any moment, a light drizzle in the air, the pitter patter of our shoes against the water flowing down the street beneath our feet and umbrellas out just in case the heavens decide to bless us with more downpour. However, it is not. She has barely spoken to me the last few days. Tension hangs in the air, an aftermath of the rift between us. Any attempt to make conversation with her was easily snuffed out by her cold shoulder and her stubbornness to reply to me straight as an arrow, with no beating about the bush. Now that meant no banter, no teasing and no small talk. I could whip up an argument that she is being silly, except that she is not.
She had lent me her favourite book to read last Friday, after making me swear an oath that I will not dog-ear, underline or highlight it in any measure. Pure as my intentions were, the same could not be said for Rusk, my five year old husky. He took to the book mercilessly, clawing, chewing and ripping his way through it, and paraded the remains of the book around the house like a medal for good behaviour. After giving him a good talking to, I called her up to break the bad news. Things were okay at first, she was understandably upset but didn’t get to blaming me or my dog until I tried breaking the ice that wasn’t there in the first place with my ‘I guess “the dog ate my homework” is really a cliché’ joke. She hung up on me and didn’t talk to me all weekend and on school when I approached her, I was given the cold shoulder treatment. Things have been chilly since then.
Now, walking home, I’d tried twice to initiate a conversation but was shot down with cold replies and plain disregard on her part that I stopped. A cool chill that had nothing to do with the weather captured my heart. How long is this going to go? I open my mouth probably expecting to stutter out an apology but words flow out like a river. “I’m so sorry, I really didn’t mean to ruin your book. I know I should’ve taken better care of it. It was so irresponsible of me, so thoughtless. I should’ve paid better attention, after all it was your favourite book. I should’ve...” I was on the verge of running out of words to express myself but thankfully I feel a gentle jab in my torso. I was confused. She once again elbows me softly in the ribs.
In that moment, it made sense why we were best friends. She can understand what I mean, even before I say it out loud. She can pick up on my emotions even before I express them. And I guess she just wanted me to take up responsibility instead of opening with a goofy joke. Trust me, she is the queen of goofy jokes but always knows well enough to make them at the right time.
I pick up the vibe and as if on cue, I make a dramatic gasp and pretend to reel back in aftershock. And she bursts out laughing. I join in. And that’s when I know that the ice has broken. Overall, the evening has turned out to be as swell as a cartoon drawing. Life is good.
