This is how Weather came. They were out in it, the two of them, yelling and laughing till they choked on the rain. Then they were quiet, just standing in it. Dust to mud under their feet and the smell of wet pulling up memories like fish. Li fell against Frank and he licked rain off her. I bloody told you, he said with his mouth on hers. Didn’t I tell you we weren’t going anywhere? Yeah? Well it better stop soon or it’s gunna wash everything away. You’re a hard woman to please. They danced a bit, tried to. Slow mud circles with the rain running them together. She couldn’t tell if it was his hair plastered against her forehead or her own. He turned his face up to the rain. Let’s go and get her. They’d talked about it before, tried to imagine what it would be like for Matti the first time, and Li could hear his regret that she wasn’t with them now. But she wanted to go inside with him, wet like they were. Pulled him towards the door with her hands at his belt. And then over his shoulder, she saw Matti running down the driveway towards them, running hard through the rain as if it was something to shelter from. When she got close enough Li saw that she was crying. It irritated her that Matti was having this reaction, and not the one they’d imagined for her. It’s all right, she said. You don’t have to be scared of it…
Tender yet Terrifying: Read an Extract from Unsheltered by Clare Moleta







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