This post is doing double duty on
two different blog hops so I hope you’ll visit both links above and see what others are
doing as well. Also, that’s my excuse for it being a bit longer than usual…
One day when school let out, Annalyn
walked beside little Nambe, the daughter of the family who provided her hut,
toward the gardens where she hoped to find the tribesmen with whom she’d
started a cooperative. The co-op was working as well as could be expected with
no rain, but she feared the unity wouldn’t last when she wasn’t there to answer
questions and fix quarrels, of which the tribesmen had many. She glanced at the
dusty earth under her feet. Dry and parched, it nonetheless mirrored her soul. When
she’d made the desperate decision to leave behind all she knew, she hadn’t
realized how much she would miss the magic of rain. Here in Africa, though,
she’d discovered a purpose, a life worth living, even if it was without Jack…
“May I walk with you?” Annalyn recognized
the voice behind her and scowled.
She didn’t turn as she said, “I
thought you’d be at the clinic after all that time you spent at school.” She
bit her lip. “I mean—”
“I know what you mean,” Leon
Dubocs said, intercepting her. His eyes, usually too serious or filled with
mirth, were now, what, sad?
“Annalyn, I must replenish some
supplies before I leave and wondered if you would go to town with me.”
“When are you leaving?” Annalyn
shaded her eyes to peer up at the Frenchman to whom she’d taken an immediate
dislike.
“In a few days.”
“When are you going to town?”
“This afternoon?”
She didn’t want to go anywhere
with him, but even Nambe had commented on her rudeness to the charismatic pediatrician
from Doctors Without Borders. “Tomorrow
would be better, if I go.”
“Tomorrow is fine.” Dr. Leon, as the
villagers called him, grinned and his sadness disappeared. She stepped back,
astonished at his reaction to her answer.
“Nambe should go also,” she said,
desperate to not be alone with him.
He grinned as if he’d read her
mind. “Nambe, would you like to come too?”
“Oh yes! After I water the
gardens?”
“Of course. I’ll help so we can
leave earlier.” Dr. Leon winked at Annalyn, and she frowned. But Nambe hopped
with excitement.
Dr. Leon bent down, “Sh, petite. Don’t dance too loudly or the
others will want to come.”
The next afternoon, in the tiny
van that the DWB rented, Dr. Leon,
Annalyn, and Nambe rumbled through the savannah and into town. Once parked, Dr.
Leon called to Annalyn as she started off with Nambe. “Where are you going?”
“You go ahead with your plans...”
“Which are to be with you.” He took
Nambe’s hand and said, “Come, before work we must find a treat.” He glanced at
Annalyn. “Nambe, tell your friend to smile a little. Her scowl needs a rest.”
*****
Journal Friday August 15
Went to town today with Dr. Leon and Nambe. Enjoyed the trip because Nambe
was there. Dr. Leon’s “charm” and “easy manner” is wasted on me. I wish he’d get
on with his work and leave me to mine.
The long drought is stunting the gardens and the animals show their
lack of fresh water. The elders of the village pray every day for rain. Occasional
wisps of clouds drag their heels across the sky. Nothing comes of them. Feels
like my life, just empty, dry promises.
Conserving water is a habit, as is my bickering when I must work with
Dr. Leon.
*****
The next morning Nambe woke
Annalyn. “Annie! There are clouds!” Groggy with sleep, Annalyn stepped out into
the gray dawn. Clouds rolled across the eastern sky in angry swirls. Lightening
crackled on the horizon. “Nambe, perhaps this time the gods will answer the
elders’ prayers,” she said. The villagers honed in on the implied promise of
rain. Even the med crew did, standing by their tented clinic, eyes glued to the
distant roiling sky. The villagers could stay if the rain came. Without it they
would have to move to another location and leave all their hard work behind. Annalyn
had seen it happen elsewhere and knew the cost.
Routine activities continued;
school, tending the patients in the med tents, readying a wagon for market, and
as if daring the clouds to come closer, the villagers watered the gardens. A
wall of rain began to fall so far away it made no difference to them.
But in the gardens with Nambe and the
others, Annalyn too, watched and watered, retracing her steps to the well over
and back again. Then, air whipped up with a playful coolness around her ankles,
her torso, and her hair. Annalyn tilted her face to the sky. Moisture hung in
the air. She filled her lungs with it and something deep inside her moved. The
villagers stood still as if of one accord.
The wall of water thundered closer,
encouraging promise into certainty. Annalyn glanced toward the med tents. The
staff stood transfixed as the rain arrived, overwhelming them all. Annalyn
gasped as the sheets of solid wetness plastered her hair to her head, her
clothes to her body. Hooplas drowned in the rain pouring from the now blackened
sky. Every foot danced, every arm hugged another. A medley of slick little
bodies clung to Annalyn and sang with joyousness. Her feet beat the muddy earth
and her heart yearned to dance. She hadn’t danced since she’d lost Jack,
especially not in the rain. Torn between her past and her present, she licked at
the water on her face and tasted tears. Closing her eyes she felt each stinging
drop revive her drought-ridden soul. Nambe reached for her hands and together they
danced in the crazy rain. Annalyn laughed and wept as half-remembered joy challenged
her painfully familiar melancholy. When Jack had gone she’d thought never to be
happy again, thought she’d failed. But Nambe’s little hands tugged her into the
now, into the pounding rain and she yelled, “Nambe! It’s raining!” Nambe laughed
as they ran and leapt and flailed their arms over their heads in complete abandon.
When Annalyn stopped to catch her
breath, Nambe hugged her waist. Annalyn hugged her right back and kissed the
top of her soggy little head. Then, Leon Duboc’s dark eyes captured hers with a
knowledge she’d avoided since their first meeting. Releasing Nambe to dance
with the other children, Annalyn stood still in the midst of all that movement,
in the midst of all that rain. Leon strode toward her with a purpose she felt in
her bones. She silenced her broken heart and took a step toward the man coming
for her. She knew that he would ask of her what she hadn’t been able to give
for two years.
 |
| From The Notebook |
Her body thrummed. Leon stopped a breath away, reached up to
wipe aside the hair clinging to her cheeks, and put his arm around her waist.
He pulled her against him. She held onto him so she couldn’t change her mind.
She didn’t close her eyes, stayed present in the now. Leon kissed Annalyn and
she forgot everything but his mouth, his hands, his wet man-scent, and the
magic of the rain.
Images from:
