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The day was grey, dark clouds moved across the sky above the castle and gave the sun no chance to make an appearance. It was already noon, but it was so gloomy that candles had to be lit everywhere in the castle, a task that had actually taken hours. The castle was quiet, lunch was already over and most of the servants were busy in the kitchen or in other parts of the castle.
Monsieur Cogsworth stood in his room by the window and looked out into the grey of the day. It had begun to rain, thick drops pattering down from the clouds and pouring onto the castle, the courtyard, the garden. He stood still at the window, a cup of his favourite tea in his hands, but he seemed to have forgotten all about it. His thoughts were far away and yet they were bound to this place, as the past would haunt him. Yet three months had already passed.
Three months since Bell had confessed her love to Prince Adam, three months since the enchantress' curse had been lifted, three months since they were human again.
Human beings, flesh and blood, skin and hair, able to walk, see, hear, taste, smell, feel!
And yet it almost seemed as if each of them had lost something of themselves in the long time they had been nothing more than household objects, utensils and knick-knacks. It had been difficult for many of them to find their way back into a life as human beings, to become aware of themselves again.
Cogsworth was no exception.
He had not been able to sleep for nights, the silence that suddenly surrounded him had been unbearable. All these years, the ticking of a clock had been his heartbeat, omnipresent, continuous. His own heartbeat was not present enough to remind him that he was actually alive. Eventually he had put his pocket watch, which he kept with him at all times, next to his pillow to fill the silence and it had helped.
At first he had been ashamed of this "tic", but he had heard more and more tales from other servants who were not much different.
The house servant Chapeau, who for several days found himself standing next to the door every morning, where he had spent the night standing, as he had when he had been a clothes rack.
The housekeeper Madame Potts, who suffered a nervous breakdown every time her little son Chip jumped down from somewhere or ran wildly through the corridors of the castle. They had taken the shape of a teapot and a teacup during the curse, and Madame Potts couldn't get over the fact that her son could no longer burst into a thousand pieces during his antics.
Lumiere, who had become a candlestick, and who could not bear the sight of a candle almost burning down for several weeks after the retransformation, because it reminded him too much of what could have happened to him at any time during the curse.
And there were many others who suffered the same or similar fate, some only for a short time, some still going through this phase. But Cogsworth was sure that each of them would get over it, sooner or later, that each of them would find their way back into their lives as human beings. It had to be that way.
Sighing, he looked at the cup in his hands, in which the tea had long since gone cold. Still thinking, he let the liquid circulate in the cup before he looked outside again, where the rain was coming down in heavy showers. He still had a little time before he had to resume his work as majordomo and so he decided to watch the rain for a moment, when he suddenly stumbled.
Were his eyes deceiving him, or was someone really standing there in the rain?
Puzzled, Cogsworth narrowed his eyes, hoping to see what was going on out there, and finally he realised that there really was someone standing in the rain. And he was quite sure that he had recognised who it was.
"Lumiere!"
He heard the call, but he stayed where he was, as if frozen in that moment.
He stood in the middle of the pelting rain, his head craned back, his arms spread out to the side, palms facing the sky. His clothes stuck rain-wet to his slender body, his copper-coloured hair had come loose from the low ponytail it was always tied into and hung dripping over his shoulders, and the rain pelted relentlessly on his face turned skywards.
And none of this bothered him, quite the opposite. He smiled.
"LUMIERE!"
The older man's voice rang out loudly and rather angrily behind Lumiere, but he didn't bother to even turn around. He stayed where he was, completely absorbed in the moment. He just stood there and enjoyed the sound of the rain, the smell the water stirred up from the ground and everything it touched. But most of all, he enjoyed the feeling of the pattering drops on his skin, so thick and heavy that their impact was almost painful.
Suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulder and the next moment he was pulled back a little. Staggering, Lumiere turned around and when he came to a stop he looked into Cogsworth's face, which was red with anger. Lumiere smiled and rolled his eyes, he knew what was coming now. And the majordomo didn't waste any time.
"Lumiere! What in all that is sacred to me are you doing here? Have you lost your senses, here in the middle of the rain... What are you doing here anyway?"
Lumiere was still smiling, now at the confusion reflected on his counterpart's face.
"Mon cher ami, I am doing nothing at all, except enjoying my life."
"Here? In the rain?"
"Oui mon ami, ici sous la pluie, ‘ere in the rain."
While saying this, Lumiere had stretched out his hand again and was dreamily looking at the raindrops dancing on his palm.
"And I ‘ave to tell you, I've never felt so..."
He paused, as if searching for the right words.
"Never felt so WHAT?" growled Cogsworth, who was getting more and more annoyed by the whole thing.
It was so incredible, crazy and....
"...never felt so..."
He looked at the majordomo and his eyes sparkled.
"...Alive."
Lumiere.
The whole thing was so incredible, crazy and just Lumiere.
But Cogsworth could understand. For 10 years they had been objects, alive, in many cases also mobile, but unable to feel. Their skin had been wood, metal, porcelain...
Completely lost in thought, Cogsworth hadn't noticed how he himself extended his hand and looked at the raindrops that came to touch his palm. And he couldn't help but enjoy the feeling they gave off.
So both men stood side by side in silence for a moment, until the majordomo realised the insanity of what they were doing. He cleared his throat, stretched his back and said, in his usual stern tone: "Enough of this sentimental nonsense!"
He turned to go, but stopped after a few steps and turned to Lumiere, who was still standing where he was. Annoyed, the older man huffed before saying, in a clear commanding tone: "Now come on in! Or else you alive will catch your death!"
Lumiere just smiled, looked up at the sky once more before following the majordomo.
The latter gave the younger man a contemptuous look as he stepped into the castle and made off in the direction of his room.
Monsieur Cogsworth shook his head as he looked after Lumiere, then closed the door and turned to leave. But then he stopped for a moment and watched a raindrop run down the back of his hand and finally drip from it onto the floor. He smiled.
"Alive..."
The end