To Catch a Raindrop

To Catch a Raindrop

By Gilarnan and AlwaysRonnie

Percival was a respectable sort. Definitely not the sort to be buying gifts for a woman he hardly knows. Let alone, be walking to her house to give them to her. It was, of course, raining. Yet somehow he found himself trotting along to deliver these gifts. 

This time he was prepared to be in the rain. He had a trenchcoat on, buttoned up, of course, and his father’s old rain cap, to keep his head dry. Not only was he walking towards this strange girl’s house, but he was walking toward her house with a dress that she had left in his bedroom. He, being the respectable sort, had laundered, dried, and folded it, then put it in a nice paper parcel to be delivered in. This, underhandedly, was not the only reason he was going to her house today. Ever since that evening, when she had picked poor Beatrice, he had been enamored with the thought of her. Her constantly being on his mind, made it impossible for him to read, eat, or go shopping. And to his own chagrin, he had come home from his shopping adventure with three or four things for her, without even realizing it.

As he walked briskly through the rain, his face was slowly turning red with the remembered thought of his first kiss. He wondered if that had been her first kiss as well, but her being so pretty, it probably wasn’t.

Time passed, and he found himself at her door. There was a dead flower, tied in a knot, hanging from a hook upon it. He wondered if that was something he should question or not. In the end, he decided not to. 

“Right, Perry Ol’ boy, you can do this.” He whispered to himself. “Just knock on the door… No, this is stupid.” He turned to walk away, but before he had a chance, the door swung open.

“Did you want to see me?” Chen asked, smiling as always. He stood there, frozen in time and space. Staring at her beautiful smile. “Perry?” She asked, “You ok?” His mind exploded with the thought of a need for reply, but nothing came. She glanced at all his parcels. “Did you bring me a gift?” She exclaimed, snatching at them.

“No!” He said, backing away, “I mean… yes… I mean, your dress. I brought your dress.” He continued, handing the largest parcel to her.

“Oh, I suppose you’ll want your clothes back too?” She asked disappointedly. “I’ll go change.” she says, and it is at this point he realized, she was wearing his clothing still. 

“No no no, you’re fine. You’re fine.” It was at this point he also realized she had embroidered his shirt with colorful flowers. 

“Well… would you like to come in anyway?” She asked, holding open the door, and gesturing. 

“Oh! Right!” He said, forgetting that he was in the rain. He walked into her house after wiping his hooves. He looked around her house in awe and slight horror. The walls were filled with frames that held dried and pressed flowers- many of which were from his very own garden! Gertrude? Is that… flowers he thought had been eaten by wild cosprouts, and flowers he had deeply admired were adorning her home. He swallowed hard, and tried to move past this inconvenient sight. “What a lovely house,” He choked out.

“Thanks!” She replied, leading him into a room with a large window and a couple of comfy seats. He was pleased to see she had a couple of live plants as well. None of them had flowers on them, but several looked familiar. “Have a seat!” She said, hopping in the window seat and patting the spot next to her. By this point, he had shed his hat and raincoat, but remembered to grab the other parcels. He gingerly sat next to her. She leaned over and set her head on his shoulder. At this, his back straightened, stiff as a board.

“W-w-well, um… Ahem.” He cleared his throat. “I uh, found some things… that i thought you might like.” He said, his ears red hot, and pounding.

“Things?” She asked, lifting her head and smiling excitedly. “I do like things.” She said with gusto.

“I thought you might.” He said, chuckling nervously. She eyed his remaining parcels eagerly, but didn’t say anything more. He nervously fumbled with the packages until he grabbed the oblong, rectangular package that was on the seat next to him. He handed it to her, “H-here, this is for you, I thought you could use it.” She took it, shaking like an excited cosprout. 

“What is it?” she asked impatiently. 

“Well, open it and find out.” He said, smiling shyly. She obeyed, tearing at the twine bow that held the postage paper on, and revealing a beautiful gray wooden box. She lifted the lid, and inside, on a dark green velvet cushion was an elegantly carved wooden hairbrush. On the back of the brush was an image of a flock of Patoy in a pond.

“Oh! Those are my favorite!” She said excitedly.

“The hairbrush?” He asked, “I didn’t think you had one.”

“No, silly! The Patoy! How did you know?”

“Oh.. heh, lucky guess.” He said, rubbing the back of his head. 

“Will you assist me?” She asks, handing him the brush, and turning her back to him. 

“Hold on,” He said, handing back the brush, “There’s more.”

“More?” Her eyes glimmered like stars. 

“Yes,” He said, handing her a medium-sized square box. She didn’t wait for permission to tear into it this time, she simply ripped off the packaging and stared in awe at the plate of cookies with pink frosting and a cherry atop each one. She gingerly picked one up and then shoved the whole thing into her mouth in quite an un-ladylike manner. 

“Don’t choke!” He said.

“M FNE” She mumbled around the cookie. 

Finally, he handed her a small square package. This one was different from the others, as it was wrapped in green wrapping paper with a red velvet bow around it. 

“Ooooh,” She said, holding out both hands to take the pretty parcel from him. He handed her the parcel, and blushed hotly. A bit more gently than she had handled the previous packages, she took off the bow and then piece by piece unfolded the paper. Inside was a small, star-shaped raincatcher with silver and light blue swirls running through the glass. “It’s beautiful,” She whispered in awe. She unhooked the silver chain attached, and quickly put the shiny new raincatcher around her neck. Before Percival had a chance to say anything else, she stood up, and bolted towards her back door. “I have one for you too!” She shouted as she ran.

“...” He sat in confused silence as he heard grunting noises coming from the back yard. Finally, he heard what sounded like a lot of water being dumped from a large container, and then she rolled a muddy barrel through her kitchen, and into the seating area where they had been.

“Look!” She said, “It’s big!”

“Obviously!” He said, a little shocked.

“I figured you could use it to store extra water for all your flowers!” She informed him with a grin. 

“Thank you,” He said, eyeing the mud all over her floor with an expression somewhat akin to panic. After the initial shock wore off, he saw her admiring the raincatcher he had given her. 

“It was my mothers,” he said sadly, “No don’t worry,” He added as he saw her about to object, “It’s been sitting on a shelf for years. See, I have my father’s and my mother’s hasn’t seen rain for years.”

“Is she dead?” She asked bluntly.

“Yes.” He said, thinking it was obvious.

“Mine too,” She said, her smile wavering for a moment, “But it’s ok though, I’m still happy.”

“I’m sorry,” He said, looking down at his hands. The two of them sat in silence for a moment, then she quietly walked over and sat next to him again.

“Thank you,” She said, “For the gifts.” 

“Oh, think nothing of it,” He said, blushing red hot. But she would think of it. She would think of it often. She smiled, and discretely wiped a tear from her eye. Then reached for the fancy hair brush once more, and pushed it into his hands. He gently brushed her curly brown hair and quietly thanked the watcher for bringing more than just the rain.