The Last Note of the Rainmaker

The city of Aethelgard did not know the sun. For three hundred years a gentle drizzle had covered the city kept going by the hum of the Great Atmospheric Engine.. At the heart of it all inside the tall glass dome of the Weather Spire was Kael.

Kael was the Rainmaker. His job was to monitor the moisture adjust the valves and keep the clouds thick to hide the city from the "Scorchers". They were an army from the lands who thought the clouds hid a treasure.

There was no treasure. There was the rain and the quiet loneliness of a man who lived behind glass.

The excitement in Kaels life was not in the weather. In the letters. Every morning a tube delivered a note from the city below. They were from Elara, a woman he had never met. She lived in an apartment at the base of the Spire.

"Today the rain tastes like iron " her first letter said. "It makes me think of battles. Do you ever wonder what it would be like to feel the sun?"

Kael replied, "The sun is hot. It burns what it touches. We are safe in the grey."

For years this was their routine. He would adjust the pressure; she would describe the rain on the streets. She was his link to the real world the only person who knew he was actually living inside the machine.

One evening the Engine started to shake. A deep sound echoed through the Spire making the glass vibrate. Kael rushed to the controls. The pressure was dropping. The clouds were getting thinner.

He looked out the dome. For the time in three hundred years the grey clouds were breaking. A beam of light pierced the clouds hitting the spire with such force that the glass started to hiss.

He ran to the tube. Sent a message to Elara: "The clouds are breaking. If you can see the run. Go to the tunnels."

The response came back minutes later. It wasn't a note. It was a wilted flower. A dandelion, yellow and strong.

"I've been waiting for this " her note said. "Come down Kael. The rain is gone. You don't have to be a ghost."

Kael looked at the controls. He had one choice: he could make the clouds seal themselves again. He could let the Engine fail. He could let the Scorchers see the city let the sun hit the streets and finally walk out the door.

He looked at the dandelion. It was the colorful thing he had ever seen.

He didn't touch the controls. He stepped away his heart beating fast. He watched as the last of the rain-pressure vented out making a beautiful rainbow over the city.

He grabbed his coat. A waterproof garment he had worn every day. And walked toward the door.

As he stepped out onto the balcony the air was warm. It wasn't the chill of the rain; it was the soft warmth of a dying afternoon. He started down the stairs his legs shaking.

When he reached the base of the Spire the streets were filled with people. They were standing still looking up at the sky their faces wet with tears. They were afraid. They were also alive.

He found Elara standing by the fountain her face up, to the warmth. She. Though they had never met she knew him. She looked at his skin his rain-drenched eyes. She smiled.

"You're late " she said.

"I had to finish the cycle " Kael replied, dropping his coat.

"Is the weather better now?" she asked.

Kael looked at the horizon, where the sun was setting. He took her hand feeling the warmth of her skin.

"I don't know " Kael said. ". For the first time it's ours."

The Great Engine gave one groan and fell silent. The rain had stopped. The world was. For the first time it was beautiful.