Only light clears rain

Only light clears rain

In a room, seated on a couch, a man was peering out of a window. He saw rain pouring heavily through the streets. The roar was so loud that he could hear it through the walls. He looked at the picture of a boy on his phone and a darkened expression coloured his face.

"This isn't good…" he muttered to himself.

On the other side of town, at a bus stop, a boy was staring blankly at another creature a quarter in height to himself. It was currently grooming its orange fur. There was a tag under it's neck so the boy knew the cat wasn't a stray.

"Good for you." The boy thought.

A water droplet hung on the edge of his protruding hair curl. After walking for a while the boy with dark brown hair was standing in front of a store, umbrella in hand. In his other hand was his phone and it was ringing. Ignoring the device, he looked upwards causing the droplet to fall and above him it read, “Feline Refuge.” The boy’s name was Elliot and he had arrived at a cat shelter.

Pushing the wooden door, a bell rung above his head. Alerted by the sound, the clerk who had his back turned away at the reception, spun around.

“Welcome!” he said.

“Hey… I’m just here to browse” Elliot cowered.

“Yes, of course. Just this way”

Elliot followed the clerk through a door that was next to the counter. Upon entry, every once in a while, inaudible noises would echo from beyond next door. Once the entry swung open, the noise became slightly louder into distinct, “meows.”

In front of him were rows of metal cages. There were twenty on each side and ten in the back. All of them were occupied. Elliot had expected the cats to be clawing and meowing intensely. Wanting their freedom like he had seen in the movies. Films don't always strive for accuracy. They were all resting or stretching and together they looked like a colourful painting. Black, white, orange and brown and that was just a few. Many were mixed. One stood out. Elliot's eyes immediately danced to the one that was smaller than the rest.

The fur of this cat was black. It covered it’s entire body, as fragile as it was. What was striking to Elliot was the emerald glow. Forest green eyes. Contrasting with the fur, it looked like something out of a picture book. A surreal creature and it's small eyes and ears being a hallmark of its innocence. The clerk noticed Elliot's body moving on it's own closer.

“That’s Felix. He’s just 12 weeks old.” said the clerk.

“How’d you find him?” queried Elliot.

“Someone found him walking alongside the road.”

“A kitten walking on it’s own. Where was it’s mother?”

The clerk hesitated with the question, but with a sigh he continued.

“When they walked further along, they found the mother on the

ground. She had been hit by a car and was no longer alive.”

Pain pulsed through Elliot's right hand. It had begun twitching. Attempting to hide his shock, he clasped it with his other hand.

“Is everything okay?” enquired the clerk.

“Yes...” said Elliot.

He had fallen silent.

When Elliot was only 2 years of age, he had been in an accident. An incoming vehicle had collided with the one he was in. Being in the backseat and perhaps through a miracle, he had only suffered a cut to his right hand. The rest of his body was undamaged. His driver wasn't nearly as lucky. Her neck had been cut open and her stomach had been shredded. From the gash, blood had seeped through the broken chair and over the crushed metal. She had died instantly.

Elliot was rescued by an onlooker at the scene. He would not remember much of that day. It was best that a child would not remember gory details. Though no child could ever truly forget his own mothers death.

Breaking Elliot's rumination, a familiar ringtone played. He peered down at a screen.

“Your phones ringing again.” said the clerk.

“Yes, you’re right."

Noticing a discrepancy in the clerk's phrasing, Elliot asked. "Wait, what do you mean, again?"

"I overheard it ring, when you were outside the store as well."

The clerk took a peak at the phone, "It says it's your father"

When Elliot was five, he asked his father about his mother. He knew there was something different between himself and his peers. Longing for answers, he asked and that was the first time he felt thoroughly disappointed. A feeling that would remain and spread. He let the call go to voicemail.

"You can call him back, I don't mind." said the clerk.

"No, that's okay."

Elliot had thought that feeling of disappointment would go away. First he tried to make new friends, he thought he might just be lonely. But that wasn't the problem. Then he thought if he could remember the moment his mother died something would change. But he couldn't, he had only been two years old at the accident. While that memory was hazy, the moment his father told him what had happened was etched into him. It was engraved so heavily, that he couldn't separate the disappointment from the one who delivered it.

Once again, his phone rang but Elliot turned it off almost instantaneously. To distract himself, he shuffled towards the cat. It had begun grooming itself with it’s tongue. Peering at Felix, Elliot thought to himself, “Deep down, you must feel this way too.”

“Do you want to hold him? Asked The clerk but without hearing Elliot’s answer he continued, “Well of course you do. Who wouldn’t.”

“No- I..”

The sound of the key clashing with the metal of the cage silenced Elliot. With a creek, the cage swung open.

The creature in front of him was pacing back and forth with it's tongue on its fur. Seemingly unbothered by the human that was in front of him. No attempt to stop or look up.

“That’s how it should be.” Elliot confirmed to himself.

But then Felix changed his course of action. He put pressure on his front two legs and picked himself up. And then one step at a time, began moving towards the other side of the cage. Once at the edge, it lifted its head and peered up at the human in front of him with eyes that were full of curiosity.

Elliot thought its eyes were even larger up close. And that they were full of life and to his disdain, hope. Despite this, Elliot’s body began moving on it’s own towards the kitten to hold it. But a dim pain pulsed through his right hand. A reminder to not forget. Once again, he stopped his right hand with his other. But this time, he spun around and then ran towards the exit.

“Where are you going?” yelled the clerk.

He ran through the first door, the second door too, and then through the entry of the shop, ringing the bell as he exited. He didn’t stop. He continued to run until it was enough.

Breathing heavily, Elliot had returned to the bus stop. His dark brown hair was completely drenched and his boots shined from the rain. Luckily, there was a bench that was undercover. Sitting on it, he opened the palm of his right hand and peered into it. A faint scar that traced from the lower edge of his palm to the upper edge was glaring back at him. It was a reminder that the world did not have his best interest at heart. He closed his hand and took a deep sigh of defeat.

“It wasn’t disappointed to see me?” Elliot whispered.

“Why am I always so disappointed?” cried Elliot.

Once again Elliot's phone had begun ringing. He pressed the phone swiftly cancelling the call. Peering forward in exasperation, he recognised a familiar tail. It was waving like a snake from under the bench he was sitting on. He hadn't noticed it at all. Elliot got up and crouched down next to the cat. It was the orange furred cat from before. Its tag dangling from its neck.

"Seriously?" Elliot thought.

Its eyes, it had the same hope he had seen in Felix.

"I guess I have no excuse." Elliot said in defeat.

He got out his phone. For the first time this day, Elliot resigned himself to return a call. He started dialling and pressed it against his ear.

“Hey Dad……”

“Hey! Sorry I called you so many times. I know you don't like that. I was just checking on you because it’s raining.”

“I know.. sorry I haven’t been picking up.”

“Did you find a cat that you like?”

“There was one that moved up to me. I thought it wouldn’t but…”

“That sounds grea-“

“Its mother died in an accident.”

“oh…I see..”

Silence fell between the two.

“But I really liked it..” continued Elliot.

“Yea!?” the dad said excitedly.

“Yea… haha” chuckled Elliot.

“You’re in a cheerful mood today...not that you’re not generally... just um.”

“I don’t think I’m going to get the cat.”

“Okay....”

“Not today… but I think I’ll get it next week.”

“Yea?”

“Let’s go get it together.”

With that the call ended.

On the other side of town, Elliot's dad continued to look outside of his window. He hadn’t noticed, but the rain had stopped pouring in between the phone call. Light had finally started shining through.