Hi, I'm back with a new chapter. :)
Chapter Three: Dancing In the Rain
NOW
On her third attempt, she is greeted by a downpour when she reaches abuelita's house.
The rain is so hard that she can't even see anything outside her window. The next problem is that she doesn't have an umbrella in her car. She hesitates, wondering if she should come back again tomorrow.
She stares down at the bowl of corn soup she had brought with her. She had made the soup this morning, knowing that it is Abuelita Alma's favorite dish for breakfast. Santana had hoped that she and her abuelita could have breakfast together again, like they used to.
She can't come back tomorrow; she has to deliver the soup now. Her abuelita must be cold inside the house, what with this terrible downpour. This soup will definitely make her feel better.
Determined, Santana wraps the bowl in a plastic bag and carefully tucks it under her jacket before stepping out into the rain.
By the time she reaches the front porch, her hair and clothes are halfway soaked. She rings the bell. "Abuelita," she calls. "Abuelita, it's me, Santana."
No answer.
She tries knocking the door. "Abuelita, please open up," she pleads. "I bring something for you."
No answer.
"Abuelita…" her voice trails off, knowing that that damned door won't open for her.
Sadly, she places the bowl of corn soup in the doorstep. She places a note she had written earlier on top of it: I made your favorite corn soup. When can we have breakfast together again? Love, Santana.
Her chest feels heavy as she makes her way back to her car through the pouring rain.
THEN
"It's raining, abuelita, it's raining!"
Santana watched the rain from her grandmother's window. It had been sunny before, and the downpour came as a surprise. The temperature in the room dropped immediately; Santana shivered in her sleeveless summer dress.
"Oh my, it is," Abuelita Alma sighed. "It's five o'clock, Santana. I'll have to call your mother, tell her you'll be coming home late." She covered the little girl's body with a blanket, then disappeared into the kitchen to make the call.
When Abuelita Alma came back, Santana was nowhere to be found. She saw that the front door stood ajar. Worriedly, she ran outside, calling Santana's name.
She found her nine-year-old granddaughter outside on her garden, twirling and jumping and flapping her arms around like a ballerina. Her clothes and hair are soaked with rain, but a huge grin is on her face as she continued to dance under the summer rain.
"Santana!" Abuelita Alma cried from the front porch. "What are you doing, child? Come back here, you will catch a cold!"
"I'm dancing, abuelita," Santana said with a laugh. She twirled around, her dress splayed like a flower around her. "I did this with Daddy once. You should try it! Come and dance with me, abuelita!"
"I don't think that's a good idea, Santana," her grandmother said. "It is very cold."
"Not if you move," Santana said. Giggling, she ran towards her grandmother and pulled her hand. Abuelita Alma protested and tried to stay on the porch, but Santana was persistent. She dragged her grandmother to the garden and taught her how to dance.
"Just move your feet and arms around, abuelita," she instructed, performing one of the dance moves she learned on her ballet lessons. "Turn around like this."
Reluctantly, her abuelita followed her dancing. Abuelita Alma shivered and complained from the cold. But little Santana pulled at her abuelita's hands and ran around the garden. They turned around in circles, jumped over rocks, and hopped around the rosebushes. Soon, Abuelita Alma was laughing along with Santana. They swung each other around the soft grass, hands interlocked.
"Never let me go, abuela," Santana cries over the patter of the rain.
"Never, mi amor," Abuelita Alma promises. "Never. I got you, love. I got you."
When the rain finally stopped, both of them were disappointed.