The sky started to darken. The golden sun could only watch as several clouds swept the sky and concealed the sunlight from the Earth. The clouds started off as little, pearl-white wisps, but now they had grown and merged into large, puffy, stone-grey masses. The palette of cyan, tinged with a hint of gold, was replaced by a canvas of dull, dismal, slate grey. A couple of droplets fell from the sky. The people did not bother. Bistros and cafés remained open, the umbrellas were still folded and sheathed in their covers, and the people wore trench coats instead of raincoats. The sky gave a second warning. A flash of lightning whipped the clouds like a glowing, frayed rope. The clap of thunder followed soon after, trailing the lightning bolt like two fast sprinters in a race. Boom! Boom! It roared loudly at their ears and shook the Earth with its deafening scream. Now the humans began to take things more seriously. They retreated into the red brick buildings, silver and glass skyscrapers, or the nearest roof available. Those in their cars gazed through their windows and looked up. The sky was going to cry.

And then it started raining. The clouds sent down armies of tiny droplets. It poured water down on the town like a waterfall. The rain fogged and blurred the town as it enveloped the area in its mist. I looked at the gardens. The trees held up their arms and spread their bright green fingers, offering shelter to the creatures below it. The flowers curled their petals and gathered cups of cold rainwater. Broad leaves let the water roll off their backs and land on the short blades of dark green grass. The light brown soil darkened and dampened as it bathed in the rain. A handful of people left as the park emptied itself of visitors and filled itself with rain.

The raindrops went pitter-patter on the surface of the windows. Cars and buses drove carefully on the road, their windshield wipers swaying from side to side and making audible swish! swish! sounds. The low humming of engines, coupled with the tapping of raindrops, made a modern lullaby that soothed the weary to sleep. Indoors, the clocks ticked and tocked, the printers and coffeemakers whirred and beeped, the hinges of oak doors creaked under the slightest swinging, and the heels of people's shoes made sharp clinking sounds against the marble or hardwood floor. The white-collared workers continued to work on their computers, whereas those visiting the café sipped hot chocolate and coffee as slow jazz music filled the air.

Outdoors was no place to be during the rain, but it was where I ended up. The rain thumped on the bluish-green roof of the bus stop. Beside me were several other commuters. The office worker adjusted his royal blue tie and fiddled with the handle of his coal-black umbrella. A group of schoolgirls and schoolboys donned banana-yellow raincoats, some of them covering their small heads with hoods, carrying neon backpacks. The college student removed her plastic headphones from around her neck and placed them inside her bubblegum-pink bag, untied her long copper hair, and whistled to the beat of falling raindrops. The middle-aged man folded his newspaper and tucked it into the back pocket of his beige trousers as he tapped his leather-clad toes. A warm yellow bus flashed its ruby-red brake lights and came to a halt in front of the bus stop, its charcoal-black wheels screeching against the asphalt. Several people boarded the vehicle, but I was not one of them.

The bus closed its doors and sped away from me. This time, I was all alone. I continued to look around the town. Pedestrians walked cautiously on the pavement, their shoes splashing the water with every step they made. Some held transparent umbrellas, others held thin colored ones, and the rest wore clear ponchos over their clothes. The unfortunate few placed handkerchiefs on their bare heads and scurried to the nearest shelter. Shopkeepers closed their doors and wiped the mist that formed on their windows, staring through the glass panes.

And here I stood, under the roof of the bus stop, watching the world as the sky continued to shed its tears.