The Rain

The Rain 

By: TheStarkiller

1.

The rain had started the same way as any other rain, but it sure didn't end that way. When I woke up to the pounding of rain on my roof, I took a quick glance out of my bedroom window and found that it was absolutely pouring. Knowing that it was almost physically impossible for me to drive in that to work, I called in sick (it was a Friday, there was no way that Mr. Boss-man would miss me) and went back to bed. The sound of the rain on the roof lulled me back to sleep. I had always been strange that way.

In the beginning, I was glad that it was raining. It had been one of the hottest summers in Wisconsin on record and it had rained maybe two or three times the whole summer. Naturally, as a gardener, I saw this as an opportunity for my daisies to get a little drink. After my sick day was confirmed, I went back to bed and didn't think too much more of it. I was just glad for a day off.

When I woke up the next day, Saturday, as I recall it, it was still raining, but not as bad as it had been the day before, so I decided to get a little exercise and ride my bike into town. A little human contact never hurt anybody. On my way in, I could see my neighbor standing outside and cursing his ruined flowerbed. I'm convinced that he loved that flowerbed more than he loved his children. That garden was his pride and joy.

"Hello, Mr. Potter!" I called to him, purposely upbeat and cheeky. "Notice that my flowers are standing nice and tall!" He raised his behatted head to look at me, annoyance and the thrill of competition flaring in his eyes.

Mr. George Potter and I had had a long standing gardening rivalry since I had moved into the neighborhood and began planting my little baby roses and bleeding heart bushes. My neighbor to the left, Mr. Jones, said it was because before I moved in, Mr. Potter obviously had the best garden on the whole block (as far as Mr. Potter was concerned, it was the best flowerbed in the whole world). Now he had someone giving him a run for his money, and Mr. Jones urged me to keep competing, 'for the love of God!'. Mr. Jones watched us bicker about our flowers like a normal person watches football in the fall, or baseball in the summer. Whichever you prefer.

"For your information, Ms. Mitchell, I have a new shipment coming in. Exotic flowers, hard to get," he said, a little smirk spreading across his face. "Might even get some little trees."

I shrugged, "That sounds lovely, sir. I've been thinking about expanding my bed a little. Might even just make it two beds, one on either side of my driveway. Wouldn't that look smashing, Mr. Potter?" He scowled, and I continued to ride onward into town, waving to him behind me. "See you around, Mr. Potter!" Out of the corner of my eye, I swore I could see Mr. Jones watching us from his front window, giving me the thumbs up. Nothing like a little friendly neighborhood competition.

To escape the rain, I decided to stop inside the grocery store and get a few essentials for the day, maybe a movie from the Redbox there. I restocked my chip and popcorn collection, along with some assorted fresh fruit, and went to the fifth register that belonged to my favorite cashier and friend, River Underwood.

"Good morning, Julia!" River greeted me, an enthusiastic smile on his face. "How in the name of all things holy did you ride your bike in all this rain?"

"Well, I'm not the Wicked Witch," I quipped as I removed my soon-to-be purchases from my basket. "I'm not going to melt."

"I suppose not," he said as he scanned my chips, then commented, "You were just in last Monday with a hundred dollar purchase, how did you eat all that?"

"Just stocking up for Doomsday," I said as I gestured at the window, which showed the pouring rain.

He laughed and finished bagging up my purchases, "What're you doing tonight while your roses drown?"

"Thought of getting a movie from the Redbox. Avengers or something like that. A superhero movie, nevertheless."

"Mind if I pop over? I've got nothing better to do," he said casually, then added, "Your total is nineteen dollars and ninety seven cents."

"Why not?" I agreed.

River handed me my bags, "Have a nice day, Julia."

I went to the Redbox and got The Amazing Spiderman. One of my great loves in life is comic books, especially Marvel and DC comics (though I generally enjoy the latter more because I have a Batman fetish), and I always saw the superhero movies when they came out in theaters.

When I got back to my house, Mr. Potter was still mourning the remnants of his "majestic" gardens. My flowers were still standing nice and tall, proudly taking whatever nature was throwing at them.