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Deianna stared out the window in tense anticipation. Behind her, her brother made a rude noise. “I don’t know why you’re so excited, Dee. It’s just weather.”

“You’ve seen it before. I haven’t.” Deianna continued watching out the windoow.

“Dee, you were two when it last happened,” her mother reminded her.

“Yes, and from what you’ve told me I slept through it. I’m not missing it this time.” Deianna tried to ignore her family.

Ponzeirus was a dry planet, most of their water coming from deep underground sources. It almost never rained. In fact, rain was very predictable. The planet got three to four days of rain every fifteen years. The last time had been when Deianna was two. Today was supposed to be the first day of this cycle’s rain.

“Leave her alone,” Deianna’s father told the other two. “Don’t you remember your first memory of rain?”

“I was bored by it within seconds,” her brother yawned.

“I was mesmerized by it,” her mother admitted.

“Let Dee have her moment with it like we all did,” her father ordered. The others fell silent.

It started with a tiny puff into the dirt. Deianna wasn’t sure if she’d seen it. Then another one. Then three more. Then it was as if someone turned on the faucet. Rain poured from the sky.

Deianna stared out the window, her mouth open. “Go out in it if you want, Dee. It won’t hurt you,” her mother suggested.

Deianna scrambled off the couch and slid her feet into her shoes. She stepped out the door. It was noticeably cooler than it usually was in the summer. She walked down the stairs and stepped out into the rain.

She was instantly drenched by cold water. She gasped and then laughed delightedly. She spun in a circle, her arms wide. She tilted her face to the sky and let the pouring rain caress her skin.

“You let her go outside?” her father asked her mother from the doorway.

“I did the same thing my first time,” her mother confessed. “It’s magical.”

Deianna wasn’t the only one standing in the rain. A few of her neighbors were also enjoying the downpour. She heard the shouts and whoops of delight. She reveled in the feeling of the pouring rain as it cascaded down on her.