Jonny looked at the sky as he stood thinking, wondering, wondering how he was going to go about accomplishing what he needed to do. He needed justice. He knew he was justified in demanding it, searching for it, that enough time had gone on.
He stood on the top of the steps under the cover of the doorway watching the rain pummel at the asphalt, thundering down and splashing all over the ground. He watched people walk around him, their umbrellas splayed out above them to reflect the raindrops.
Jonny continued to watch, knowing that he would soon enter the place where the rain didn’t fall, the place where the rain would rise, rising up into the clouds. It was a strange feeling, seeing the rain going up instead of down. It was an experience Jonny had only felt once before. He couldn’t decide if he had enjoyed it or not. It had definitely been different.
Jonny pulled a pack of Marlboro’s from his jacket pocket, pulled a cigarette out and lit it. He breathed in, feeling the warmth of the nicotine hit his chest, and then he breathed out, relaxing his lungs, and feeling the rush of the drug. The cigarette left him feeling overjoyed and relaxed. It made what he was about to do much simpler, so much easier.
He stood there smoking for some time until the man he had been waiting for passed by him. The man looked behind him, as if ensuring that no one was following him, before continuing down the road.
Jonny dropped his cigarette to the ground and stomped it to extinguish it. And then he began to follow the man, quickly pulling the hood of his jacket over his head to obscure his image, to avoid being noticed.
Jonny walked at a slow pace, keeping the man in his sights but also ensuring he didn’t get too close. The man looked back once or twice, but never spotted him. Jonny always made sure to put a stranger between himself and the man. It decreased the chances of being seen.
Jonny made sure to never get too close. He couldn’t afford to be spotted. Then he might never catch him. Jonny knew he was justified to get his revenge. And if it meant returning to the land of the rising rain, then that’s what it would be.
Finally, the man stopped at a door. He looked behind him once again and Jonny quickly hid in a doorway to avoid his gaze. Jonny looked back at the doorway and the man took a final glance around, before walking in.
Jonny knew he had to hurry. He only had a certain amount of time before the door would close. And then he would never get justice.
Jonny sprinted ahead, feeling the raindrops tickle his nose as he did. He reached the door, pulled it open and entered inside.
What he saw as he entered made him gasp. He had been here before, but the effect it had on him was the same. Jonny felt like he was in the clouds, the world so much different than the one he knew and understood. The floor beneath him was soft and plushy, the ground even but smooth. Looking around, Jonny noticed that all around him was that iridescent blue-green tint, the floor beneath him a mixture of glassy emerald and shiny sapphire. Everywhere he looked he could see a reflection of him, that of a blue-green tint, as if he had changed in colour since arriving here.
He looked down and saw the beginning of rain, the water rising up through his feet and going up into the sky. It gave him chills as the water went up his shoes and legs, up his back and then up past his neck. It was a strange feeling, one he was glad he could soon forget.
“Looking for me?”
Jonny looked behind him suddenly, startled at the voice. He couldn’t see anything; nothing was there.
“Ah you can’t see me. Of course. Let me come down.”
Jonny turned back around to the face the front, confused. And there he was. The man. The man who had killed his brother. He had done it in cold blood.
“You must think you have a right to be here. That you can just have justice. Well you can’t. I won’t let it.”
Jonny found that he couldn’t speak. He couldn’t respond. It frustrated him to no end. All he wanted to do now was tell him what he did, how he destroyed his life. That man had destroyed everything and now Jonny couldn’t even tell him that.
“You know Jonny. That is your name isn’t it?” The man nodded as if already knowing the answer and continued. “You want justice. I get that. But we don’t always get what we want do we Jonny boy? Sometimes it’s best to just let things go.”
Jonny couldn’t speak. And now he couldn’t move. He couldn’t will his legs to move forward. He wanted so desperately to lunge for the man, to grab his neck, and choke him to death. How he wanted that. It infuriated him. Being stuck to the spot as if disabled.
“But you know how it goes Jonny. You don’t need me to tell you.”
The man turned and looked the other way, staring at the iridescent walls. Jonny could see his reflection in the walls, how the man appeared to be thinking.
“Jonny boy. It’s time we part ways.”
The man suddenly disappeared, as if disintegrating into the air. Jonny looked around but could not see him. No matter where he looked he was not there, as if he had not been there at all.
Suddenly the ground beneath his legs gave way and Jonny fell through the ground. He was falling, falling. He could see the blue-green clouds above him, the beautiful iridescent colours of the world. He continued to fall through the air, faster, faster as the gravity lowered him to the ground. And then there was blackness.
