Illustration by Paul Campbell © 2006
Death of a Raindrop
by Paul Campbell © 2005-6
First appeared in Ragged Edge Publishing, the Ezine
Today the sun cowardly hid while an army of dark storm clouds slid into position. Rumor had it that they'd been planning this drop now for over a month. This would be a storm that wouldn't soon be forgotten by many. Millions would plummet to their death today for no good reason but to lighten the load.
Tales had been passed down through the generations describing both sides of the fence. If you were one of the fortunate ones, you would land in a larger body of water becoming a minimal fraction of the whole. If you were unfortunate however, you would shatter on any number of hard objects that lied waiting.
The holding cargo was overly packed and the wait was unbearable. Some stood in silence while others could be seen praying. Still others wept and pleaded with their neighbor to aid them in escape. Try as they might, escape was futile. The juggernaut was already in motion.
His train of thought was torn like paper with a loud clap of thunder as the bay doors slid open. The combined fear of millions took the form as an energy bolt which quickly sought out the ground below. This was followed by thousands of screams as the sentinels began pushing the little baby raindrops over the edge and into oblivion.
Sadistic laughter could be heard mixed with the cries as the sentinels relentlessly did their job. Like caught in a wave, he was steadily shifted forward towards the door which held his fate. Suddenly he could feel the steel grip of a sentinel on his shoulder as he was torn from the edge and cast downward.
Still hearing the screams of his friends as they dropped at breakneck speed, he tried to focus on the ground below. As the mist cleared, a shot of hope ran through them all. Directly below lay a beach with an ocean on one side while the other side held rock solid damnation. Just as they began thinking about the possibilities of becoming a part of the whole, a large wind picked up steering them directly towards the mountain.
All hope was lost at this point. All that remained was the upcoming pain. He fell deep into his thoughts once again and contemplated how cruel life could be. Opening his eyes he could see the rock starring him down only a few hundred yards away. As they collided with the solid rock one by one, he awaited his fate. He wasn't to be denied. He shattered into millions of useless unrecognizable pieces silencing his screams forever.