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Personal Raincloud (11) : It’s a beautiful, sunny day in Destiny City–for everyone but you. There’s not a cloud in the sky–except for yours. No matter where you go, a dark cloud seems to hover, casting shadows wherever you go. It’s been raining since you woke up today, and it’s like bad luck and bad weather just follows you. It’s a constant downpour, always exactly where you are. The raincloud is usually big enough to easily cover a full building, so if you stick around for too long, your misfortune will turn into someone else’s too. The raincloud might follow you for a few hours or for the whole day before slowly fading; there’s no escaping it, or the strange, sombre mood that seems to follow you.
Today was ********. First the coffee maker carafe shattered as it was finishing filling with hot coffee, which spattered all over the kitchen along with shattered glass; not only did Alanna have to clean it up, since she was always the first one awake, she missed out on her morning cup o' joe. Then the A string on her bass broke – just snapped as she was tuning it, the sharp metal end twanging painfully against her arm. Nothing hurt like a broken bass string, not even a paper cut. And then she broke the lace on one of her Docs as she was getting dressed to go out and replace the carafe and the bass string (because of course she didn't have a spare bass string handy). Grumbling, she tied a knot in the broken bit and finished tying her boot.
And now it was raining. Nice, sunny day and it was raining. And Al with no umbrella.
She didn't know why, but a dark gloomy feeling loomed around her as the rain dumped down on her. Which was weird, because normally she kind of enjoyed a good rainy day, especially during the heat of summer. Maybe it was just thunderstorms she liked in the summer months, not plain old rain. But those she usually enjoyed from inside the apartment, not out in them. Shoving her hands in her ugly surfer jams pockets, the handles of her shopping bags around one wrist, Alanna stomped down the street toward the coffee shop near campus. She hated getting wet against her will.
The rain was falling hard enough that it was making instant puddles on the sidewalk and occasionally catching some other hapless soul in the downpour. Al took some small pleasure in that, watching the normies get soaked right along with her little gay punk a**. Just as she was gloating about some completely boring straight couple madly dashing through the sudden rain, a bus sped by, splashing her with first its front wheels, then the rear wheels. "Wha-" she gasped, suddenly wet through to her skin. "You ******** b*****d!" Shaking her fist and flipping off the bus driver, Alanna tried to wring some of the water out of her shirt before turning to bark at the nearest person staring at her. "What are you looking at? Ain't you never seen someone get splashed by a stupid ******** bus before? ******** OFF!"
Al shoved her wet shaggy white-blond fringe out of her eyes. The coffee shop was dead ahead; not a moment too soon, either. She'd be able to get out of the rain and into a nice hot vanilla lavender latte with two add shots of espresso. Her absolute favorite.
Except the coffee shop was closed. During Star Festival of all times.
With a sigh, Alanna leaned back against the side of the store front, staring down at her toes morosely. Sure, there were other coffee shops near here, but this place was the only place that made her coffee the way she really liked it. She'd been looking forward to it, too. An amber sparkle caught her eye in the puddle forming around her feet; bending over, she picked it up and looked at it quizzically. Huh, a little star charm. She gave a small snort of a laugh. Maybe this would improve her mood. She tucked it into one pocket, and just like that the rain that had been plaguing her all day lessened, then stopped.
She looked up at the now clear, sunny sky and smirked. "Huh."
(word count: 598 )
