There was a time when the water could not even reach my fingertips. No rain poured into it. At its standstill, the molecules grew rancid; infection spread throughout the minimal pool from lack of care, attention, and love. Years later, ripples appeared, shooting pain from each new motion until one final wave met the end’s fire. The puddle that once existed was now empty: no love, life, emotion—just drought remained.
Rain visited the shell of what cradled life and love but harbored anger that trickled into the emptiness. Slowly and surely, the rain healed the dry hole in the earth. Rain blessed the surface and gave life to the heart beneath it. Day by day the drought was forgotten. Some days rain became a storm, but healing does not have a consistent weather pattern or a roadmap to navigate.
The rain helped the pond turn into a great lake like it used to be before the pain began. One of the mini streams connected to the lake found another lingering stream nearby. With time, the two streams grew acclimated to one another, sharing love, life, emotion—just worlds colliding. With two tidal waves crashing into one final wave, the two streams thrashed to become one.
Two years pass and our souls have merged as much as two soulmates can. Our love fills us to an ocean’s edge. Never in my existence have I been so loved and happy. The cause of the emptiness I felt all those years ago no longer matters. This is the time the water flowed past my hands because he thinks my hands and my love are worth holding on tightly to.
Elyssa Latham (she/her) is a woman of words, and reader. Elyssa’s works express strong emotions that people go through and get the reader to feel those emotions alongside her. She wants readers to take away that it is okay to allow yourself to feel and that you can craft art out of pain.
Featured image by Alex Perez on Unsplash.
