"Encounter in the Rain" by Matthew T. Summers

The rain continued to pour down around the awning as I looked out into the darkened city streets.  It seemed that everywhere you looked, you saw the same thing; people exactly like me, pissed off and disgruntled, shivering and hovering underneath whatever shelter they could afford while waiting for this damned rain to slow enough to make it over to the next marginal cover along the route to his or her miserable domicile.

It had been like this for weeks now, with only the occasional break of sunlight to cast any light onto these soggy city roads.  Everyone was tired of leaky basements, of water dripping onto their heads, and moisture invading every aspect of their lives.  People had already begun the process of moving out and heading for drier skies; whether they were ever successful, I cared not.  

I was going to be late again.  I knew I’d get yelled at, and still I didn’t care.  I’d found this awning fair and square, and until it let up enough to satisfy me, I wasn’t budging one inch into this damned rain.  It was cold, too.  Yeah, staying here would be for the best, or at least that’s what I tried to convince myself.  I knew that, come payday, I’d be bitching about the lack of hours, but that wasn’t for a few days still…

A flash of color caught my attention from a passing car, but it had only been the headlights reflecting off of a soda can.  Nothing around here retained any color anymore; it had all drowned in this damned rain.  The car passed, and the color remained, finally catching my full attention.

The color was bright, vibrant, and it glowed with an almost neon phosphorus intensity.  Only the lights of the city bars were brighter, which was impressive in and amongst itself.  I thought for a moment that perhaps some child had forgotten a flashlight, until the light moved and hovered in the air.

I watched, stunned, as the light made a very random pattern as it moved through the air.  Aimlessly, it finally fluttered almost accidentally into the awning where I stood in amazement and stopped, gasping for breath.  

Fearful yet with a touch of curiosity, I examined the light closely and was startled to see a tiny person in the center of the light.  The lad was fully formed, and rather muscular for a creature only a few inches high.  I realized with a start that the light actually projected from the tiny thing, and not from any device that the little guy was carrying.  

It took me another few seconds to realize that the man had miniscule wings attached to his back, threadbare things that looked no thicker than the width of a fingernail in size.  They were completely clear, and since the man; no, fairy, I corrected myself; and since the fairy was moving them still, it was hard to discern any further details on the wings.

The fairy waited there with me in that awning for fifteen minutes, as happy to be out of the rain as I was.  I simply stared at him in awe, my own earthly concerns and troubles completely forgotten by the appearance of this… this creature.  Finally, with a musical chirp of satisfaction, the fairy took to the air again and headed back into the rain, flying up and over one of the buildings in his own quest to return to his home.

I must have stood there for an hour, contemplating what I’d just seen.  Then, with only the briefest of hesitation, I pulled the hood off of the top of my head and stepped out into the pouring rain.  I began to whistle, an offbeat tune I suddenly remembered from my youth, long forgotten until now.

The rain was cold, but it served to awaken me further as I strolled along those beautiful city streets.  It was going to be a good day, indeed.