The Day that it Rained

Lupita glanced upwards towards the ever-blazing sun, always cursing her, on her daily 5-mile trip to get water. The dirt path stung her feet with bits of rock. The small, crumbling well was busy as always, and Lupita had to push her way through to fill her small bucket. Her mother wanted her home before sundown, but she had plenty of time; the sun was directly above her, burning her skin with its unwanted rays. She drank a little from the well, cooling her dry lips for about a minute, then started her trek back home. This trip was always longer than the first, as she had to be careful about not spilling her precious cargo. She glanced up again. A single vulture was searching in the sky, but he would not find anything to eat here. No, he would have to go where Lupita's father and two brothers were: about thirty miles to the north, fighting against other tribes. Ever since they had left, the sun had seemed to beat harder on her.

A noise startled Lupita, almost causing her to drop what she was carrying. There were few noises in the desert, mostly the cry of the vulture, the occasional distant gunshots and the shuffle of footsteps against the dirt and sand. This sound was not one of those; no, it was a humming sound, maybe a vehicle? The only vehicle that Lupita had ever seen was the warlord's, and she did not want to see or hear it again. She shuttered, remembering what that occurrence had started. Suddenly, unexpected, a cloud passed over Lupita. She had seen a cloud maybe once a week, but this one was the largest she could remember. Thankful for the hopefully prolonged shade from the sun, she added a bit of joy in her step, still careful not to spill. As she went over the last hill, overlooking her small village, Lupita could see the source of the mysterious humming noise: vehicles were advancing from the other side of the village, but not that of a warlord. These had strange flags on them, with red and white stripes and a square of blue in the corner with lots of stars. There were lots of men, both white and black, but in the front vehicle was, unmistakenly, her tall strong father holding the hands of her brothers. Lupita carefully placed the water down in the sand, she would come back for it later, and raced towards her father and brothers. As she got to the edge of the village, for the first time that Lupita could remember, it started to rain.

Note: I used weather symbolism in this piece, but tried to make it different from the typical story. Usually, rain symbolizes something sad, but in this small desert village, rain represents something happy, and the sun is the usual, terrible life that Lupita leads.