Chapter 3

            The sky was drizzling rain again, for the fourth time in a week. The clouds overhead were smoky gray and puffy, sending down drops to soak the passerby’s, who were hurrying home or to their cars to get out of the rain. The wind blew, not fiercely, but enough to help stray plastic bags glide along the streets. Sometimes the wind would even pick up the bags, facilitating their ability to soar through the air like balloons, as it made a whistling sound, as if to warn people to stay in their houses. Car tires slid through puddles of grimy water, splashing the sidewalks as the wetness soaked underneath the concrete. Horns blared angrily as wheels skidded across yellow lines, turning sharply to avoid collisions, hydroplaning on the sodden gravel. Businessmen with briefcases bustled through the streets with dull colored umbrellas, shielding themselves from the rain. Mothers carrying groceries and shopping bags yelled for their children to follow them across the roads to their cars as the children scampered off to splash in puddles with their yellow rubber boots and rain coats. Some people just ran out of stores, covering their heads with an arm, rushing to the dry safety of their houses or cars. Most of the local coffee shops and bookstores were full of pedestrians, hiding behind doors to keep warm, settling in cozy chairs with a cup of hot chocolate or coffee, and picking out a book to read until the storm passed.

            That’s what I was doing; sitting in the back of a Barns & Noble, curled up in a big, worn out pink chair with a nice warm mocha sitting on the table beside me, writing another letter to Dana. I’d decided that I had to get out of the house, so I’d started walking, just anywhere I could, trying to think things over again, when it had started to rain. I’d come in here, figuring I could get some work done for the magazine I was currently writing for, but my thoughts had wandered, and I’d ended up writing to Dana. This one had a sort of nostalgic tone to it, instead of the normal ‘I hate Tanya, what’s wrong with you?’ vibe. Maybe I had finally moved past the anger stage. Tina said it would happen eventually, and that it was normally  sign of moving on. I seriously doubted that, though. I knew this wasn’t going to go away that quickly. Apparently the assholes who control the universe get some sick amusement from seeing me suffer.