Independence Day

The rain wasn’t as hard as she thought it would have been when she felt like this. The both of them walked, filled with a mutual sense of understanding, through the deserted streets, littered now only with the broken memories and unforgettable moments that had been hard-pressed to happen melted into the bricks of the city. The cars that passed sounded quieter underneath the heavy layer of clouds so that it was almost as if the two of them, who had so much in common built out of their lack of similarities, could have been walking through a shared lucid dream. The shops had all closed down on this gloomy independence day, and the faces of people who had doused themselves in zinc and sunscreen looked a million miles past disappointed and three thousand years behind ready for the rain. They, however, smiled for the first time all day as the dew drops and tears came pouring down from the thickening sky. Left of center, there was a wandering melody that was dancing with its eyes closed across the cobblestone streets and they laughed despite of themselves, they laughed at the way the moon tasted after three jack and cokes, they laughed at the lone sushi joint open to celebrate America’s birthday, and they laughed at their laughter because all they wanted to do was cry. Let down expectations and unrequited love tasted too familiar to them for this half-suicidal fantasy world to be confusing. And so they meandered past forgiveness and they jogged on through the let-downs and they sprinted toward a future so black and confusing that they had to forget their histories just to be allowed to enter. Their names were etched on the list which, as they could tell from all of the cob webs and dust mites, had been waiting for them since the beginning. The human Saint Peter, guarding these less-than-pearly gates, gave them a solemn nod, which hinted at an apology and a promise. They couldn’t smile anymore, but at least they weren’t crying. So, despite the rain and the pain, they felt a little bit better. Alone in a promise of what might be coming, they decided to wait.