You wake in the morning and find yourself walking through a cold, wet day. You remember with a fond smile that it was a cold, wet night too, for all the time you decided to forget the fact that you were about to graduate and took a step outside. The cold rain beat against the shoulders of your leather jacket and dampened your hair and yet you refused to bring an umbrella.

Because that would be missing the point.

And you walk and you smile and you enjoy the company. The company of the rain, the company of the night, the company of the cold, the company which is still with you even after the morning comes, even after the rain has stopped, even after it starts to warm up huddled inside your leather jacket. For a time you managed to forget, you managed to ignore, that the world wasn’t perfect, and you walked in the rain.

Like a child, you walked in the rain, and you smiled. And you think of today and tomorrow and the day before as scenes in a movie. You’re walking in the dead of night through the rain and you don’t have an umbrella. And you love every minute of it, and you’ll remember every step.

It was a cold and rainy day that followed a heated night. All pretenses were lost as you gave in to yourself, you forgot yourself, for just one second and you reached out. But you forgot to let go and now you don’t know what’s going on. Because the cold wet day has come, and left behind the darkness of the night.

With the cold came the reminder that you had duties, responsibilities, beyond walking in the rain. Wake up, the voice screamed in your head. Time to go to class. Have to go to class. The phone rings and you answer. “Give me one good reason for me to go to class,” you ask, and there’s no answer. You smile, you’ve earned yourself another hour.

But you know that in the end you’ll have to get up, because the cold, wet day has come to take away your night. And so you do so and you can’t help but wonder about the rain, about walking in the rain. Because it stays with you, every time you step outside and walk in the rain, and you indulge, let go. Act like a child.

You shower and you shake sleep from your eyes. Four hours, you think to yourself and wonder if you’re going to make it. And you put on a shirt and you grab for the umbrella but you stop yourself.

It’s a cold, wet day outside.

It’s raining.

You don’t grab the umbrella. You turn to the chair and see the jacket where it was discarded. The jacket will save you. The jacket will keep you warm. It’s a cold, wet day. You have responsibilities. You have class, assignments, and a job to go to. You’ll fall asleep in class, you won’t work on your assignments, and you’ll likely nod off at work too.

But you’re not taking your umbrella. You’re taking your leather jacket. You wrap it around yourself and hug yourself against its warm embrace. You still feel some of the dampness from the night before. It’ll protect you. So you stand and walk out into the rain, and until you get to class, you’re back at night, walking in the rain.

And you enjoy the company. Because although it left with the rising sun, you’re still wearing the leather jacket. You hold it against yourself and you enjoy the company. It’s as if you’re not alone.