The Woman in the Rain

Charlie had stopped believing in the woman in the rain years ago. His mother, who believed in spirits, had told him her story when he was young.

“She’s evil, Charlie,” she’d warned. “If you see her, whatever you do, don’t invite her inside.”

He’d been terrified. For years, he trembled whenever there was thunder, hid under his blankets every rainy night, convinced he could hear her outside calling his name, crying to be let in. When he became a man, he chalked all that up to an overactive imagination.

Tonight, Charlie spent his shift under the eave of the open bar door, watching the rain. It was getting late when a distant flash of lightning drew his attention to the sky. When he looked back down, she was there. A pale woman with dark eyes standing in the rain, her hair and dress sodden and clinging.

She blinked away water and hugged herself.

“I need to get out of the rain.” Her voice was muffled, distorted. “Please let me in.”

“ID?” he asked.

“Please, Charlie? Let me in. I feel like I’m drowning.”

How did she know his name? She didn’t look familiar, but he saw so many people that he rarely remembered anyone. She clearly wasn’t a child, was soaked to the bone, shivering.

“Alright,” he said. “Go on in.”

She smiled sadly and disappeared down the steps leading into the basement bar.

A little while later, the bartender asked him to bring out a keg from the supply room; despite the rain, the bar was packed, and they were short-staffed. Charlie had just lifted the keg when there was a bright flash of lightning and a boom of thunder that shook the small, barred window near the ceiling. The rain, suddenly a downpour, pushed open the window and began to cascade into the room.

Charlie dropped the keg and rushed to the window. He pushed hard, but the glass wouldn’t close. Water continued to stream in from the window well.

The door slammed behind him, and the bolt on the outside clicked shut. He whirled around.

The woman stood there, her skin now looking wrinkled and blue and loose, as if parts were trying to slough off.

Charlie began to shake as the water rushed into the small room, already up to his knees and rising fast.

“I’m sorry, Charlie, but I can’t drown alone.”