Ships rode by ghosts

"The clouds parted like the pursed lips of desire". Rains then poured out like held-back tears of anger, shedding emotions from the sky like a recently heartbroken damsel. The raindrops beat on the rusty roof— a drum that only children could dance to. But they danced not in the house, but right there on the streets where they stripped to their underpants, and some even totally naked. They danced, ran, sang, and even swam in the puddles formed by the rain’s sorrow. The rain cared not. It poured like hot fluid in a container with built-up, overwhelming anger, warning parents to tell their children to stop daring its wrath, now like wildfire— getting out of control and ready to destroy. An hour later, the rain was already fulfilling its promise of destruction and causing sorrows— it pulled roofs off, made cars swim to faraway water bodies that turned them to ships that only ghosts could ride in. And when the sky fell silent, a hush drowned the streets. No more laughter. No more song. Only memory lingered— of dancing feet and naked joy, and a silence too loud to bear. Contest: Choose A Line 3 Sponsored by: Joseph May Contest Judged: June 7th, 2025 5:24:00 PM Placement: Second