2

The clouds gather as we walk. Soon a slight drizzle begins as the clouds seem ever more imposing.
"Hurry up." my friend requests as the drizzle turns more substantial.
"You go on ahead" I reply. I love a good walk in the rain.
"You'll be drenched" she says as she runs ahead.
"Yeah" I lazily reply, beginning to be lost in the rain. The pitter patter everywhere, the rain cool on my face, arms, anywhere exposed. I soak it all in, literally and figuratively, as the real downpour begins. My friend was right, I will be drenched. I'm glad. As I finally reach the door I pause, basking in the rain for just another moment more.
-G

3

A warm breeze mixed with the chill in the air, and the weak sunlight struggled to shine through the choking hands of the heavy, grey clouds. As we sat there on the porch together, the year's events ran through my mind. "It's been a rough year", I thought to myself. But even as my mind reviewed the struggles, the pain and the hopelessness I had felt, there was yet a reminder to me of the goodness that had sat in the background. Never very loudly or forcefully, but softly and subtly insisting: I'm still here. The good had never really left; it was just obscured for awhile. But as the warm breeze came through a little stronger, and the sun rose up a little higher over the mountain, it was clear, now more than ever: Spring was here at last.

2

Percussion on the rooftops: bass on the road below my feet, a tenor of splashing beneath the spouts. A symphony of strings rushes through the gutters. A rolling of brass as the occasional vehicle winds its way through. Woodwinds play through the branches of the trees. My feet keep time on the pavement, as for a moment in time, I join the orchestra of nature.
-D

1

The sun still hadn't peaked over the horizon as I stepped out off the train.
"Why am I even awake?" I asked myself, fully knowing the answer.
I loved and hated the early morning. The quiet and the cold, before the world has awakened.
Lost in my thoughts the train pulled away. I gathered myself and started at a brisk pace, as ready as I could be to face this.
-G

1

I feel the lurching, lunging, staggering to a halt. Smoke billows up, obscuring the outer view.
I collect my things and join the bustling crowd, my fellow sojourners to a new land.
As I disembark with cautious steps, the unfamiliarity of it all envelops me:
the sights, smells and sounds, a symphony of welcome foreign to my weary ears.
I tighten my grip on my meager possessions, a talisman from my past, and together, we take the first few steps, hesitant though eager, into a new life.
-D