After rain comes the clear sky (Kaoearth)

4. Back home.

Kao hailed a taxi to his grandparent's house in Chiang Mai.

He was almost at his destination when the rain started pouring in full strength. The raindrops hit the car windows heavily. 

Suddenly the taxi halted.

The driver tried to restart the car but failed to do so. Grabbing an umbrella, he got out of the car to check. He opened the car bonnet to check.

The driver tried to fix the car but to no avail. He walked over to Kao and informed him that the car had broken down, and it would take a few hours before he could find a mechanic to fix it due to the rain.

The taxi driver advised him not to wait for the car to be fixed and to find another taxi instead.

Kao had no choice but to take the umbrella the driver handed to him and get out of the car. He paid the taxi driver before leaving.

It was raining cats and dogs outside the car. The umbrella was almost blown away by the strong wind that accompanied the heavy downpour.

Kao ran to find a shade for himself as he waited to hail another taxi.

Even though the place was kind of deserted, he could see many taxis passing by, but all of them were occupied. There were a few bikers available. Kao found taking a bike ride in the rain a bad option at the moment. He chose to wait.

After standing there idle for a while, Kao started feeling frustrated. Neither was the rain stopping nor was he able to catch a taxi. It was already dark and the number of people in the street had significantly reduced.

Kao asked a passerby how far his address was.

The passerby had replied that it would take only fifteen minutes by car and about one and a half hours by foot.

Since he saw no use in keeping standing there, Kao decided to walk to his address.

As a person who always travelled in a car whenever he visited Chiang Mai, 'walking' to his house was a laborious task.

He followed the instructions of the passerby as he had no phone and no GPS to guide him. God knows how many hours Kao spent walking around in the rain before he reached a familiar street.

The strong wind had deformed his umbrella, leaving him soaking wet. Instead of wrestling with the wind to keep the umbrella, Kao decided to throw it away and walk in the rain.

The rain had started slowing down.

Kao got a better vision of the view in front of him. That was when he realized that he had almost reached his destination but had been walking around in circles taking wrong turns all this while.

He cursed out loud staring at the sky. His luggage felt heavier as it was soaked in the rain.

A vexed Kao walked forward carrying the heavy bag. He was feeling both hungry and tired from walking so long.

He entered the neighbourhood where he grew up. Since he knew that there was no one at home, he decided to find a place to have some food first. But to his disappointment, there were not many food stalls or restaurants in the residential area.

Kao sighed at his misfortune and proceeded to his house.

Standing in front of the huge gate of his house, he realized something very important that he seemed to have not thought of all this time. That is, he didn't have the key to enter the house or even enter the property. The boundary walls were so high that he couldn't jump over them.

As there was no one living there, his family had hired a few people to come and take care of the house once in a while.

Kao had not informed them of his arrival in Chiang Mai as his plan to stay here was spontaneous. Neither could he contact them now. He didn't have their contact information.

He wanted to slap himself for leaving his phone behind. If he had his phone with him, he would not be having a hard time now.

Technology has made mankind's life so much easier and more comfortable, that a life without it was extremely difficult to live.

Finding a place to stay overnight seemed like a strenuous mission.

Kao decided to take a stroll around the neighbourhood to see if he could get some help from someone.

The cold wind blew causing him to shiver. His wet clothes were making him uncomfortable.

Achoo...

Kao sneezed loudly. He found himself pitiful when he realized that he didn't even have a piece of dry tissue to wipe off his snort. He sneezed a few more times and felt his nose turn runny.

Under the flickering streetlight, he noticed a shop that looked like a restaurant and walked over.

Kao remembered that the restaurant belonged to his grandmother's best friend. It was a restaurant that specialized in both local Thai and Chinese cuisines. The food there was very tasty and quite famous for their special recipes. He used to be a frequent customer here when he was young.

The grandmother there liked him so much that she would prepare dumplings, especially for him every time he visited. They were the tastiest dumplings he ever had. Those dumplings were still his favourite to date. Even the thought of the dumplings made him drool.

He had long forgotten what her name was all he could remember was that he used to call her Yay dumpling [1].

Kao facepalmed thinking how he had not recalled about this matter. He could ask Yay Dumpling for help. She might have the contact information of the housekeeper. Even if she did not, she would definitely help him find a place to stay overnight.

Thinking of the possibility, he got excited. He made his way over to the shop hurriedly. He pressed the button of the intercom near the gate. There was no response.

'Maybe the shop is already closed.' He scratched the back of his head in frustration.

As far as Kao could remember, the family lived above the shop in the same building. In the three-stored building, the ground floor was used as a restaurant and the higher floors were their home.

He stretched his neck to look inside. There were no lights on, on the first or second floor either.

'Looks like nobody is home.' Kao thought in his mind. He felt his bad luck haunting him again.

Downcast, Kao started walking away. He had to find another place to crash for the night.

He had only taken a few steps when he started feeling dizzy. His head felt heavier, and his throat was itchy. He leaned against the boundary wall as he felt his legs go weak. His vision turned blurry as he tried to stand up against the wall.

Kao lost consciousness and fell on the roadside.

[1] Yay- grandmother.