When It Rains...

“lt’s dark out.”

“It’s always dark out this time of year, Anai,” her brother responded.

“I know, it just seems different than last year.”

Anai stared at the small puddles left over from the rain as her and her twin brother, Asan, placed their gardening tools in the shed. The smaller puddles were a good sign because it was just enough to water their land. On rare occasion, it would rain so hard that the island they lived on would flood but the last flood happened before Anai and her brother were born. It still gave Anai anxiety to think about what would happened if it flooded again and the devastation it would bring.

Anai, Asan and their father lived on a small island that felt like it’s own little world, in the middle of nowhere. It was beautiful and full of lush green trees and plants to pick fruit from, but it felt like a facade. The adults of the community never allowed for the children to explore the land. Anai often felt controlled and frustrated. She was 17 and felt like she was responsible enough to no longer be treated like a child.

The adults always explained that it was in the children’s best interest not to explore because it was unsafe. They were told stories of floods, earthquakes and even how the island would eventually be underwater.

Anai and her family worked on the land to grow and gather food. Their mother abandoned them years earlier and their father never spoke much about it.

“Asan!” Father shouted from the door.

“You have to meet at 8.”

Anai and Asan were turning 18 soon. The men of their community held private meetings and when a boy turned 18, a private ceremony would be held for him. When a girl turned 18, she received no ceremony. She was only recognized as an adult woman and would be expected to partner with an adult man and give birth.

Oddly enough, their community consisted of mainly men and children. There were few adult women. Most of the women were born on the island and were immediately prepped for child birth when they turned 18. The men who governed the island wanted to keep outside influences away from their children and often attributed this to simply being a concerned parent. Whenever a man arrived to the island with a wife, they required for the married couple to be childless. They preferred for the couples to give birth on the island so the child would be able to adjust properly and keep outside influences far, far away.

This system was often suffocating for the women and girls. There was a pattern that many couldn’t help but notice. Every time a couple would give birth to their newborn, the woman would eventually leave and abandon her husband and new baby.

The rumor was that each of the men living on the island had been exiled from their home countries. They’d come to the island to start a new life but island life for some women could become boring and redundant. It sounds like a dream at first, but gets old fast. When new women would arrive on the island with their husbands, they’d always have sympathy for the single fathers left to raise their children alone. Each new woman would always promise to help the abandoned men raise their children.

Then their husbands get them pregnant, they give birth, and then the women would disappear.

It was a never ending cycle.

But, it was expected. When Anai and Asan were younger, they’d make bets on the new residents and how many months the wife would stay on the island after she gave birth.

The men who were in charge of the island had few rules but they were serious and they were strict.

1. New residents must be married without children.

2. Men and boys are required to work, provide for their families and attend meetings.

3. Women and girls are required to tend the gardens, perform domestic duties and give birth when they are of legal age.

4. Under no circumstances, are women and children allowed to roam the island unaccompanied.

The men were strict about building a society where traditional roles were honored. They felt the outside world was changing and order needed to be restored. They claimed that their rules were to keep women and children protected and safe.

Anai often hid her restlessness and fought against her desire for rebellion. She was known across the island for her imagination and vivid dreams that she often shared with her peers, especially her brother. Whenever a new resident would arrive to the island, she’d create a story about them. She’d make up their history and share it with her brother but lately, Asan had become distant.

“Have you seen the new resident and his wife? He kinda looks like a fish, right? I bet you they evolved from sea creatures and they’re escaping fishermen or pirates or something. The wife just gave birth and I bet the baby has cute little fins.” Anai joked as she walked into his bedroom.

“Not now, Anai. I have to practice for my ceremony,” Asan snapped as he read through a small journal.

Feeling pushed away, Anai quietly left his room and began to prepare dinner.

It had become standard protocol for Asan to go off to his meetings with Father while Anai would stay home and prepare dinner. When Father and Asan returned home, food was prepared for them to eat, then they’d sleep.

That night, Anai had another one of her vivid dreams, except this time it included her mother. In the dream, her mother pointed to the water and traced the number 18 in the sand. She walked into the water until Anai could no longer see her. When she awoke the next day, she told her brother about her dream.

“What do you think it means?” she asked.

“I don’t know. Maybe she’s on your mind because our birthday is tomorrow,” Asan responded. It was normal for his sister to dream of something exciting before a big moment in their lives. Their 18th birthday was monumental.

“Have you ever wondered why the girls don’t have a special ceremony like the boys?” Anai and her brother were the only twins on the island. They were close and did everything together. It bothered her that his ceremony could not include her.

“I never really thought about it. I’m sure it’s because they just want the boys to learn how to fulfill our duties and eventually run the land. You’re not missing out on anything special.”

“Yeah, but…sometimes I just think of how Mom left and it doesn’t make…”

“Anai,” Asan interrupted. “Every time you dream of her, you start trying to make sense of Mother’s decision to leave. The only fact that we know is that she left us. No note, no goodbye, no nothing. Life on the island, for some reason, is harder for mothers to accept. They’ve had lives in other places before living here and from what I’ve been told by our Father and the others, they preferred those lives instead. Our Father and every father in our community made a sacrifice to live here and sustain this island. It’s our land. It’s our duty. To disrespect our Father by even suggesting that he lied-”

“I know. You’re right. I’m sorry. Forget I brought it up. ” Anai wanted to say so much more, but decided to leave it alone.

“It’ll rain tonight. You should prepare for your ceremony.” Anai began to gather buckets and Asan went to his bedroom to prepare. It would begin at midnight and the sun was setting soon. Asan and Father would back by sunrise.

After Father and Asan left, Anai prepared dinner earlier than usual so she could rest. She was always anxious when it rained because she had a fear of their home being flooded. Anai was told how many women and children went missing during the last flood, so she was terrified of the heavy rain. She covered the food she’d prepared for her family and went to sleep.

As she slept, she dreamt of her mother again. Only this time, her mother traced the date 03/03/03 into the sand. March 3rd, 2003 was Anai and her brother’s birth date.

Her mother traced a second date in the sand. 06/06/06. This was the date their mother left them. She then wrote “go quietly,” into the sand and pointed towards the building where the ceremony was being held.

When Anai woke up out of her sleep, she quickly put on her coat and rain boots and headed out of the house towards the building where the ceremony was being held. She kept as quiet as possible and made sure her neighbors didn’t see. The doors of the building were closed and locked, so Anai walked around the building to look for another entrance and heard voices in the distance, outside of the building. She quietly took off her shoes so no one would hear the sound of her boots squeaking across wet leaves. She could see fire burning and the familiar faces of the men who governed the island.

Once she was able to get a better view, she saw a woman lying unconscious on a table. She was blindfolded with her arms and ankles tied. Anai recognized the woman as the wife of the new resident.

“Fish Guy’s wife?” Anai thought out loud.

The woman had recently moved to the island with her husband. They arrived a year ago and got pregnant right away. They’d recently given birth to a daughter and everything seemed normal, until now.

Anai began to climb one of the trees nearby to get a better view. The men were all kneeling with their heads down and eyes closed. Anai saw Father leading Asan, blindfolded, towards the woman.

“Our land is our land because we pay our price to the waters. To keep our land, we pay our price,” Father announced, as he used a knife to cut his own hand.

He squeezed his hand into a fist and placed it over the mouth of the unconscious woman, making her ingest his blood. He sliced Asan’s hand, and Asan tried his best not to cry. Father became angry at Asan’s reaction and he shouted, “Honor your duty!” loudly at his son who cowered in fear. Father’s voice startled an owl, causing it to fly out of the tree Anai was sitting in. Father heard the owl and looked over to the tree. He spotted Anai and yelled his daughter’s name, causing the other men to open their eyes and see her.

“Bring her to me,” Father calmly demanded. Asan and the other men began to walk towards Anai.

Anai quickly jumped out of the tree and ran deeper into the woods. The rain began to pour harder and faster, making it difficult for Anai to run without shoes. She removed her socks as her bare feet allowed her to have a better grip. She wept as she ran, realizing her father and brother were preparing to sacrifice the woman so they could keep their land.

“How could they?” She thought as she realized her mother had been guiding her towards the truth. As she ran towards the other side of the island, the rain began to pour harder and the water began to rise quickly.

Anai’s plan to remove her socks backfired, as she was struggling to run without feeling pain from rocks and sticks on the ground. Anai fell and slid down a leafy hill that turned into a rocky cave. She was knocked unconscious.

Father and his group of men were searching for Anai while Asan joined them. He told Father that he wanted to check back at the ceremonial site just in case she turned around. Father allowed it, and the group went in different directions. At the ceremonial site, Asan saw that the woman who was meant for sacrifice, was gone. Her wrist ties, ankle ties and blindfold had been left on the table. He went back towards the town and saw the waters rising. He could hear a crying baby in the distance so he followed the sound. He saw the woman running with her newborn towards the docks where the new residents arrived. He watched as she frantically packed very little belongings onto the boat and he ran towards her. Fearful, she pulled a knife out.

“Stay away from me and my baby,” The woman said to Asan.

“I’m not here to stop you. I’m just here to ask you, if you see my sister, Asai, please let her go with you. The men are looking for her now. Just please…let her go with you. The medicine we gave you may make you fall asleep again. Having her on the boat with you could help. Please, if you see her in the waters, just…just help her,” Asan pleaded.

The woman stared at Asan with her knife pointed at him. She cut the ropes that kept the boat tied to the dock, and without taking her eyes off of him, she used the oars to get away.

Anai, still unconscious, dreamt of her mother again.

This time, her mother showed her a vision of women and children escaping during a flood. She traced the phrase, “they lived,” in the sand. Then she wrote, “the boats.”

Anai woke up to water splashing on to her face. The rain caused for a small stream to form above the cave, pouring water down through its opening. She got up quickly and noticed her foot bleeding from the fall. She used a piece of her torn clothing to wrap her feet before she prepared to run again. As she climbed her way out of the cave, she could see the sun rising but she was met with silence. An eerie silence, in fact. Anai was paranoid that the men were trying to trick her by being quiet so they’d be able to hear her make a sound.

Aside from the sound of the rain and birds in the distance, she heard nothing.

Asai made her way back and could see the building where the ceremony was being held. It was ruined. When she looked inside one of the windows, she could see flooding and broken glass. She walked towards the docks and on the way, she saw many of the men’s homes. Walls were caving in, windows were shattered, and roofs were missing. The few women left in the community were gathering children to make sure they were all safe and together while the rain passed.

When Asai reached the docks, she saw Father and the rest of the men in the water. They were face down as if they’d drowned.

“The waters claims the lives of the men if they don’t pay their debts.” Asan said, startling his sister.

“Then why aren’t you dead?! I saw you! I saw the woman they prepared for you!” Anai faced her brother, angrily.

“She got away and I’m sure you’ll see her on the water once you leave. You need to go now, Anai. The land will be fully flooded soon.”

“What are you going to do when it does?”

“I don’t owe any debts to the waters. The men did, and they’ve paid with their lives. But there’s no one left to rebuild the community. There’s still other children here. Someone has to stay to help. It’s my du-“ Asan started.

“Your duty.” Anai finished his sentence as she got in the boat.

“Yeah. My duty.” Asan responded, as he gave her boat a strong push into the ocean.

Anai watched as her brother walked back towards the land, cleaning up around the ceremonial grounds.