1st Teardrops
# THE FIRST TEARDROPS
The rain had been falling for hours.
Geo Santana sat quietly beside his bedroom window, watching droplets race down the glass. Outside, the world was blurred beneath the gray curtain of rain. The streetlights reflected on the wet pavement, making the familiar neighborhood look strangely beautiful.
He didn't know why he felt restless that night.
Nothing unusual had happened. It was just another ordinary evening. Yet there was something in the air that made him feel as though something—or someone—was missing.
Geo sighed and leaned his head against the wall.
*"Why do I feel like I'm waiting for someone?"* he wondered.
He smiled at the thought. It was ridiculous. There was no one to wait for.
Eventually, exhaustion won. Geo closed his eyes and fell asleep.
---
He found himself standing in a place he had never seen before.
The rain was still falling, but it no longer felt cold. He stood beneath an old tree beside a quiet road. Everything around him seemed familiar and unfamiliar at the same time.
Then he heard someone crying.
Geo turned.
A girl was sitting alone beneath the tree.
She had long dark hair, and her eyes were fixed on the ground. Tears rolled quietly down her cheeks, mixing with the rain.
Geo hesitated before approaching her.
"Are you okay?"
The girl slowly looked up.
For a moment, Geo couldn't speak.
There was something about her eyes.
They were sad, but somehow comforting. Familiar, even though he was certain he had never seen her before.
"I'm fine," she whispered.
Geo smiled faintly.
"You don't look fine."
The girl looked away.
"I just don't want to be forgotten."
Those words stayed with him.
Geo sat a short distance away from her.
"I don't think someone like you could easily be forgotten."
She looked at him again.
"Do you promise?"
Geo didn't know why, but his heart suddenly felt heavy.
"I promise."
The girl smiled.
It was a small smile, but it was enough to make the gloomy world around them feel brighter.
"My name is Angeline," she said.
"Angeline..."
Geo repeated the name quietly, as if trying to memorize every syllable.
"And you're Geo."
He froze.
"How do you know my name?"
Angeline didn't answer.
Instead, she stood up and looked toward the road.
"You'll find me."
"Where?"
She turned back to him.
"When you wake up."
Before Geo could ask anything else, the rain became louder.
The world around them began to disappear.
"Angeline!"
Geo reached for her hand.
But she was already fading.
"Don't forget me, Geo."
Her voice became distant.
And then everything went dark.
---
Geo suddenly opened his eyes.
He sat upright in his bed, breathing heavily.
The room was quiet.
The rain continued outside.
For several seconds, he simply stared into the darkness, trying to understand what had happened.
It was only a dream.
It had to be.
Yet something felt different.
Geo touched his face.
His fingers came away wet.
He stared at them in confusion.
He had been crying.
"Why?" he whispered.
He couldn't explain it.
He had dreamed about a girl he had never met, and somehow losing her had left a pain he couldn't understand.
Then he remembered her name.
**Angeline.**
Geo looked toward the window.
The rain was beginning to stop.
And for the first time in his life, he felt as though his heart was searching for someone it had never known.
He wiped away his tears.
He didn't know it yet, but that night would become the beginning of a story he would never forget.
Because sometimes, the first teardrops are not caused by losing someone.
Sometimes, they are caused by meeting someone—even if only in a dream.
