1 It's Been Raining Heavily Lately

The cinema of looking at the droplets stream down the glass panes, seemingly racing against its fellows. It's been raining heavily lately. I was talking to myself in secret. Mumbling the words under my breath before this scenery in front of me. The constant dripping sound blurs the peacefulness of my house. I looked at my dad; we were both sitting on the same brown foamy couch. He's watching the news, though. My eyes went back to the window. It's been raining heavily lately. I couldn't really sit up straight, so the atmosphere made me wonder, why?

My school decided to suspend our classes due to the same reason why it's been raining a lot. Something must be going on. The news report said that it had something to do with another country's mass production of waste. It's taking its effects on the sky and water. I don't know, it sounds ridiculous.

"We're here to discuss a growing concern in… where chemical production is leading to an alarming increase in waste. Joining me now is our environmental correspondent…"

War's brewing, or so I've heard from the adults. It's gotta be about something so political, probably; they just wanna eradicate each and everyone from the other side. I swear, these adults are getting out of hand. It's gonna be us in the next generation who's gonna try and solve all of their crap.

"Dinner's ready," my mother, working in the kitchen who just finished preparing the dinner table, announced the arrival of the hearty meal. The dripping drops of rainwater before this glass makes it seem like the moon is crying. I let go of the sight of the race, and went ahead to eat with my family. It's going to be a long ride.

A week later, the suspension of our classes finally ended. It's still raining heavily with no signs of stoppage or even a slow down. The same familiar sight of the streaming droplets racing to the bottom of the vehicle window. I sat comfortably at the back of the car; my father, in control, driving me to school. Guntyat National High. It has already been five months since the first quarter of my Sixth-Grade started. I entered the classroom with a slight smile and enthusiastic excitement inside me. I greeted the very few people taking naps at their own desks. They've had such long weekends yet probably spent it on vacations or something. 

"Hey, dude. Long time no see," Amon saw me join everybody. He waved with a tired look on his face. I guess he wasn't sleeping well last night either. I waved back at him, right in front of his face.

"It was just five days and two weekends. Don't act as if we haven't seen each other in years," I gave him a smile and he responded with a chuckle. "You didn't sleep last night. It's the second time this month."

He kept quiet; didn't even bother to look at me. 12-year-olds sometimes really could be something. I should probably stop poking him and let him get to his slumber. There's still an hour and a half before the teacher arrives anyway. My legs made their way to the farthest back of the room, where my seat is located. I let my umbrella rest behind as I sat down and went to sleep myself.

Lunchtime was no different. It was still raining hard, even harder this time. I sat on the bench, together with my friends. Amon, Jinn, and Jard. We're all Sixth-Graders of Guntyat National High, the class 6A.

"You brought your umbrella?" Amon asked Jard. He's probably gonna ask us all out to go to cut class with him. Typical guy. "No, I left it," Jard replied. That was an obvious lie, but I'm glad he did. 

"It's been raining a lot this week," I told everyone. Hopefully, they'd agree. Jinn and Jard's neck slowly twist as I have their attention. Jinn was the first to retract. "It's been raining for four weeks already," he said with a faint sigh. "What do you think's going on?"

"It had something to do with that contamination at the west sea, right?" Amon was curious and Jard tried to answer his question but it just caused even more confusion. One step forward, two steps back. "Do oceans affect rain? I only know rain comes from the ocean but… huh?"

"Well, the west's factories definitely have something to do with the cause of too much rain. Either that or maybe it's all just because it's almost December now," Jinn took a hunch, a good one.

We didn't really like talking about this particular topic. We still have our Math and Science subjects to worry about. I regret thinking about that one, either. Two days later, our class was suspended again. For the same reason why.

"... unrelenting heavy rainfall for the past 7 weeks has left communities grappling with severe flooding and raised concerns about a potential environmental disaster…"

"... the waste chemicals released by… have led to the formation of massive clouds that are trapping moisture in the atmosphere, resulting in continuous heavy rainfall. This has overwhelmed drainage systems, causing widespread flooding in several areas." 

Dad's been listening to the same news channel for the past few hours. I'm still here, looking at the raindrops racing to the bottom of this glass pane before me. I rest my head on the head of the couch. I'm getting bored. Dad doesn't seem to be flinching or blinking away from the screen. It's as if his neck has remained in this position like a statue. Mom is… I don't know where she is, right now. Man, it sucks not having a cellphone to play with. I don't even have any videogames to get me entertained here. 

I saw some kids through the window; playing in the rain, the five of them. Lightning strikes from the distance and one of them falls face flat, terrified and surprised. He was overwhelmed by the taste of the rainwater. They all laughed. Wish I could play with them. They look like they're having fun. 

"...They claim to be working on implementing immediate measures to reduce the release of these harmful chemicals and mitigate the consequences." 

There's always that unexpected moment where your surroundings start to move slow. They said it's all about our focus with time. If we are focusing on time, it gets slow; fast, if we don't. Maybe I should try removing my eyes from the clock. Would that make my day go faster? I chuckled a bit. Dad's head finally broke its posture and he stared at me. He probably heard my laughter. He kept quiet.

I went back to the sight of the kids under the rain. One of them is still on the ground. He's the one who fell on the ground. He hasn't really gotten back up; his bottom all wet on the slightly flooding ground. Is he tasting the rain? Gross.

Everyone's laughing and wholeheartedly enjoying rain on their skin. But there's one who stands out the most, even though he isn't really standing. He's still drinking the rain. Please, stop. He started grossing me out as he immerses himself, sipping the falling raindrops. He's like, sitting there, settling in the mud. Dirty flood water swirls around his knees and in between his legs is his peculiar source of nourishment. 

He stood up, to my surprise. He started walking around with the mud-juice and rain on his bowl-shaped hand and drank it in front of his friends. They stopped playing and looked at him. Didn't take long before they erupted in laughter. What's so funny about being so disgusting? They didn't stop laughing. Honestly creeps me out now. The thought of wanting to play with them earlier started to disappear, melt into regrets; regret that I even thought about such a thing. They laughed and laughed at their friend's silly joke. They kept on laughing, and laughing, and laughing, and laughing, until— the boy fell on the ground. For the second time.

But this time, it wasn't because something hilarious happened. The boy was twitching, shaking ill, and moving jerkily on the muddy ground. His muscles; his face and neck, tensioning up. The others couldn't understand the situation so they just laughed at him, like they always do. The boy started rolling on the ground, groaning. He was clawing his face, clawing his skin. His eyes have gone white, and it has met mine. 

I could see nothing but pure whiteness in the boy's eyes. And though we are dozens of meters away from each other as I sit here inside my house watching them through the window, I could see clearly. He has paid the price for his own stupidity.

For once again, I let go of the sight of this strange encounter through the window. I saw his friends pick him up from the floor and drag him across the side of the street as an SUV made its way. I went back to sitting properly, yawning as I started looking at the clock again. I feel like going to sleep. That's a better pastime to do.

"...Authorities are urging people to exercise extreme caution due to the prolonged heavy rainfall. If you are in the impacted regions, it is crucial to avoid unnecessary exposure to rain, drinking rainwater, or coming into contact with floodwaters, especially if you have open wounds."

I could still hear the echoing of the news report in my ears as I dozed off on the couch. It almost feels like a fever dream. Wish I could figure out what to do next once this two-week class suspension is done. The house is gonna rot me alive.

"The rain in these areas may contain harmful substances due to the chemical pollutants released into the atmosphere. As a precautionary measure, residents are advised to stay indoors as much as possible…"

"...refrain from consuming rainwater and avoid contact with floodwaters to prevent any potential health risks associated with the contaminated water."

Hopefully, things get better as it goes. I don't wanna keep being like this for a long time. Normally, I'd hate slacking off, not being able to do something. My parents aren't really doing anything, either. Maybe today's my lazy day. Something that's gonna last for quite a while. 14 days, isn't it? I can do this.

14 days isn't really a long time. Things get slower the more you focus on it. The moment I step back in school, things are gonna get better as long as I don't think about the problems it brings me. "Devi…"

As I delve deeper into slumber; my thoughts scrambling all over my head, I heard a voice, my mother's. My eyes fluttered open and her face was the first thing I saw. I couldn't help but yawn, certainly longer than usual. I'm still sleepy.

"M-Mom?" I whispered, half-awake. "Can you go to the convenience store and buy onions? I'll be using it to cook dinner," she disturbed my sleep just for this. I don't really like it when people give me tasks during my sleep. I don't like my sleep being interrupted. I don't like people interrupting my sleep. I don't like people interrupting my sleep and giving me orders. There's nothing much I can really do about it, though. Convenience store, it is.

The night's getting colder. The road's getting wetter. Just like my thoughts, it feels like scrambling eggs on a dry pan. It doesn't make any sense and it's not fun to do. I kept on walking, and walking, and walking, until my body doesn't operate manually anymore. Automatic movement doesn't sound fun, either. 

What am I thinking? What am I doing? Is this the process of puberty? Am I going through adolescence?

I tried not to think about anything. Anything, at all. But then, there's this woman, crawling on the ground at the back of an alley like a little worm with no regard for her own dignity. Is she drunk? 

"H-Help me, boy," the woman groaned, like some feral beast that she's starting to look like. Her hair's out of place. Her clothing looks like primal fashion. She has bruises and injuries on her. And her face is so full of mud and dirt. Should I help her? She's freaking me out.

The woman began to crawl towards me. She's clawing her face; it began to give me flashbacks of that kid who collapsed under the rainwater he drank. The woman's eyes started to turn white, the open wound on her leg glowing red in the dark. She keeps groaning and growling like she's beyond normal help. She's really starting to freak me out.

I wanted to ask what's wrong, secure her status or something. I don't know. "U-Um, are you—" 

"DON'T JUST STAND THERE AND LOOK AT ME!!"

And especially in that moment, I lost my cool, and pulled back and ran away. You expect me to face that?! I'm just a kid! My thoughts began to ramble again. This time, it was quite difficult to actually gather up my composure. I was losing most of my thinking and judgment. But she definitely lost more rational thinking than I have.

"Seriously?!"

"Some crazy-ass-woman was scaring you and you ran?" Amon and Jinn talked to me about my perfectly normal encounter. Well, perhaps, I talked to them about it. "Yeah. It was difficult for me to convince mom about it," I told them following a sigh. "She wouldn't believe me and even called me a coward."

The three of us; Me, Amon, and Jinn, stood before the doors of our classroom. The hallways weren't exactly empty. Lots of students are walking in and out from time to time. The sunlight was hitting us early in the morning. My friends weren't really ready to hear about the drama this midday.

"Well, you are, honestly," Amon gave me a verbal punch to my chest, throat, and every other place. "You ran away from someone asking for help. What's worse, you ran away from a woman."

Someone asking for help? That wasn't asking for help! That was throwing straight up death threats at me! "She wasn't really asking for help, dude. I told you, she's a freak. I feel like she was about to grab me by the throat and gobble up my face or something."

Amon and Jinn clearly were not satisfied by my answers. They're skeptical, aren't they? Jinn sounds amused, though. He's looking at me as if I'm some sort of a comedic show. I looked back at Jinn noticing he was clearly trying to hold his laughter.

"What're you guys talking about, hm?" Cevin, one of my classmates, entered our conversation zone. "Probably some lewd stuff," Aklee followed him closely behind. She's a bit of an I-don't-know-what.

"We're talking about Devi's cowardice during his meet-up with a woman," Amon gave them one of the weirdest head starts. "Is that so?" Aklee's still suspicious. "So… Where is he?"

Their conversations dissipated into thin air as It started getting a bit harder to focus, so I went out of the classroom and myself a fresh one. Hopefully it turns out fresh. I don't think things should always end like this. Sometimes it gets really difficult even just thinking little things. I'd like an escape tunnel myself too. What should I do next? 

A janitor stood firm in front of me. He was wearing the usual blue collared-shirt; the clothing designed for our school's maintenance staff. I could figure out his dark-eyes looking unsteadily at me, a sight that seemed ready to pounce anytime. I wanted to ask and initiate a conversation with the person, but he held a murderous look meters away from mine. It sent shivers running to my back. Honestly I would like an escape tunnel right now. But, what should I do?

I slowly turned back and walked away. I want to leave. 

I should get back to the room since Science class is starting soon. I wouldn't want Miss Ellen to send me to detention for being late again. She's always strict when it comes to tardiness. But then again, it was just a normal day.

"Hey, Devi."

Spacing out like I always have and I always do, I couldn't really hear anything. A muffled voice, probably, as it enters the left side of my ear. Looking at a dusty window to my right, an empty hallway. I gave my seatmate, Amon, my gradually increasing attention as I looked at him.

"Do you think the world's a bit cruel?"

"Do you…"

"...Think so?"

"Is there…"

Tears, pain, and agony. There were shattered pieces of glass everywhere. There were broken bones and eaten muscles. There were screaming and crying.

It's been raining heavily lately.