Rain

It was raining this morning. A soft silent rain that covered everything with fine silvery pixiedust. I went for a walk on the trail behind my house. It skirts a long narrow lake that winds through the meadows like a slender blue-green snake. The trail traces the curves of the lake, twisting and turning like the swaying moves of a belly dancer.
I was the only person on the trail. The houses lining the trail appeared to be asleep still, wrapped in the quilt of the blue grey morning light. The sky was a uniform grey, thick and heavy, like curd set in a clay pot. Rain fell incessantly covering my glasses with a filigree of droplets. The world seemed hazy, dreamlike. Like a watercolour painting coming to life.
I walked slowly enjoying the complete absence of human voices, lulled into meditation by the sounds of birdsongs and the steady, unchanging rhythm of my own footsteps hitting the paved trail.
Just around the corner there was a firangipani tree, bent in three places like an Odissi dancer in tribhangi. As I passed under the tree, a flower started to swirl gently towards the ground. I automatically reached for it. It landed on my palm like benediction, the yellow spots gleaming on the pristine white petals like dots of freshly applied turmeric. I stuck the flower in the buttonhole of my t-shirt and continued my walk. A brilliant green parakeet darted from one tree to another like an arrow piercing the sky.
The rain fell on the jade waters of the lake creating pretty concentric whorls that expanded and faded. I increased my speed breaking into a gentle run, rivulets of water running down my face. I ran two rounds, secure in the silence of people, lost in the language of birds and finally plonked on a bench under a gulmohar tree, tired and panting. The sky was clearing up slowly now, the greys were being replaced by large chunks of white.
A big grey heron came fluttering its giant wings and landed gently in the lake, rearranging the water into delicate wrinkles. It settled down, quietly waiting for its prey. I stretched my legs, taking a minute to enjoy the delicious self-inflicted aches.
The rain continued to fall in soft, barely audible whisper. All my thoughts settled down gradually. 

For a few wonderful moments I became the rain.