MANGO SHOWERS

The kiss was chaste, short and sweet. But that was hardly the point.
The point was it was special. Under the open sky, under the heavy downpour.
It wasn't their first. But it was a first in its own way. It was their first under the relentless mango showers. It had left them breathless for minutes, not because of the intensity, but because of the euphoria.

It had rained early that year.
But that wasn't really the point.
They would always remember that monsoon for a different reason.

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The brunette in an olive green raincoat looked straight ahead, even though there was hardly anything to see. It was raining too hard to see. She was waiting under the bus stop shade, waiting for the rain too stop.
She hated it when the rains came early. They called this “Mango Showers” back in her native place.

The rains depressed her. Hadn't he broken up with her in the middle of a heavy downpour last monsoon? That had turned her childhood favorite season into something she no longer liked.
But there was something special about this early rain. Maybe it could wash all those pain away.
She felt she should at least give it a try.
So she stepped out, arms outstretched, like she did when she was a child.
It didn’t take long, and she felt way better. She felt clean. She felt happy.
It had rained early that year.
But that wasn’t really the point.
She would always remember that monsoon for a different reason.

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He wasn’t very fond of monsoon. Honestly, who loved to get wet AND muddy? And then catch a fever and sit at home for days? Not him.
He had never played soccer in the mud. He was teased for it by his teammates,, friends and his sister, but he really didn’t understand the point. He would never be caught playing with mud all over his body. He was the misfit in the team, he really didn’t belong there,but he was okay with that.
But that one time, Mother Nature decided to intervene.
The monsoon clouds weren’t supposed to arrive until 3 weeks later. But the clouds surprised everyone. Not only did the come from the blue, but they also emptied their burden of water, and left.
He was playing a home match in the school grounds when the clouds couldn’t take it anymore.
He was speechless. No one had seen that coming. Now he had no choice but to play in the downpour, under the rain. ‘cause that’s what they do here.
His teammates knew about his “muddy problem”.his captain approached him.
“Take it easy bro,concentrate on the ball,not the mud.”
He tried. He found it difficult at first.
And slowly he realised what he had been missing all this while.
Soccer became more enjoyable after that day. not because his school team won the match,but because he finally belonged.
And it was a wonderful feeling.
It had rained early that year.
But that wasn’t really the point.
He would always remember that monsoon for a different reason.

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