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"I'm singin' in the rain
Just singin' in the rain,
What a glorious feeling,
And I'm happy again.
I'm laughing at clouds
So dark, up above,
The sun's in my heart
And I'm ready for love."
-Singing in the Rain, Frank Sinatra
*****
I have always loved walking in the rain. The feeling of the wetness flow through my hair, the torrents of cold water wash over my being and through my fingers. Nothing like it. Right from when I was a kid, I was probably the only guy in New York who actually looked forward to a rainy day, not just to skip school. I strolled down alleys and streets watching everybody struggle with their umbrellas or scurry to get some cover. It never made sense to me as I strode leisurely through the sleet, feeling cool and refreshed like never before.
My sister loved it as well. Jacqueline, Jackie for me, loved to prance with me. With no one else on the streets, it was like our city. Just for the two of us. The rain never bothered us in the least as we hopped from puddle to puddle and stuck out our tongues to taste the rain.
Being orphaned at a very young age, we were all the family we had. Our foster parents were nice enough but I was the only real confidante she had. Likewise for me. We laughed, we cried, we sang and danced and grew up inseparable, like two peas in a pod. There was this special connection between us that we could never quite define or describe in words, an intangible bond of nature which made us two halves of a puzzle. Incomplete without each other. Of course, I never ever looked at her with an iota of lust.

Kindergarten, junior school, middle school and high school rushed past us in a vivid blur of colour. Soon, it was time for us to move out of our adopted home. I bought a studio loft in Soho to pursue my dream as a graphic novelist while Jackie went to Fordham to become a lawyer. I let her stay with me whenever she wanted. After a while, she got a job as a junior associate at Larkin