A tear ran down his cheek and fell to the hardened earth below—unheard, lost. The gentleman continued on his way, clearing his face from any remaining moisture and melted with the masses on their daily routine, oblivious of his weathered cry for help.

The drop rested on the sidewalk, a silent observer to passers-by, bobbling from the vibration of each chuckle, step of a foot, and the passing traffic. Yet, occasionally, another stranger, unable to pay her rent, or maybe craving true love (we cannot tell) leaves a similar mark to be trodden, unnoticed, unheeded. Another, then another...

After some time, a patter was heard, and a steady rain doused disgruntled travelers and joined the preexisting splatters, causing the sidewalk to gray with moisture. The drops, having merged as one, flowed into a nearby drain, meandered through the darkness, and eventually exited to mix into the sea.

As nature would have it, the cycle of evaporation from the great body of water was lifted by the wind and carried abroad. Within, lie molecules of moisture from the saddened man, the woeful woman, a child in pain, twisting together, silently building in the clouds, ultimately destined to return to the earth, below.

Tears are shed. They are wiped away. How often is it we protect ourselves from the pain of others or hide our tears as if we are the only ones to ever sorrow? Yet we all—everyone of us—share our tears in the rain.