Saving Rain

by Kelsey Kingsley

I didn't like that dead meant gone, and with every chore that Grampa couldn't do, I knew he was closer to being gone. What am I going to do without him? Maybe if I do all the chores, he’ll never be gone at all.

Shocked, I looked at her. “I don’t want to hurt anyone,” I replied honestly. “But you hurt him.” I shook my head. “I hurt him because he was hurting you. Protecting someone is different. I’ll always pick protecting over making someone my victim.”

it didn’t always matter what tree the apple fell from. Sometimes, it was just rotten.

the thing about the past is, it isn’t always up for speculation. Sometimes, the best thing you can do is to simply accept that what’s happened has already happened and move on.”

“Here’s the thing, Ray,” I said, folding my hands against her table. “It has to be fine because there’s nothing anybody can do about what has already happened. The only thing any of us have any control over is what’s happening right now, in this moment, and all we can do is our best to not let the bad shit happen again.”

“I know what to do with pain, Ray,” I said, keeping my tone barely above a whisper. “Give yours to me. Let me carry it, so you don’t have to anymore.”

Before I knew her name. Before I knew her. And she had to know now that there was nothing I wouldn’t do. I’d mark my entire body if I had to. I’d lay down my life. I’d run to hell on my bare feet, harness the Devil, and force him to kneel in submission. All to be certain that the bogeyman she knew and feared never laid a hand on her or her son again.

I knew Ray was only a nickname, but strolling beside her, with the sun bringing light to the golden streaks in her golden-brown hair, an old, familiar tune rang through my head. You are my sunshine, my only sunshine … It reminded me of my mother, but more than that, it reminded me of her. Of Ray. Of the streaks in her hair, as bright as the rays of sunlight casting shadows over the world around us.