The Rain Stops Here

"Rachel! Get over here!" Dad called as lightning cracked in the distance.

I looked up at the sky, a vortex of gray clouds and whirling rain, and cursed under my breath. All I could think as I picked myself up from a chair in the garage was that it would be raining. Of course it'd be raining. This is just the luck of Rachel Reeves.

"I really don't think we should be unloading the truck right now." I said. Hell, with the luck I've been having this week it wouldn't be a surprise if I was struck by lightning. But I know Dad won't take that as an excuse. All he cares about right now is getting our shit off the truck and into the new house.

"I need you to unlock the straps." He grabbed his bag of tools from the back seat and hurried past me to the back of the garage.

I breathed in and let it out slowly. A huge part of me wanted to go inside, warm some tea, and sit on the sofa to watch The Shining for the millionth time. The other part of me wanted to tell Dad that I would unload the truck without his help, despite the rain and possible chance of frying to death.

So I ran out to the truck and lowered the tailgate. I threw out a hand and said, "I got it." when Dad made a move to help, but he didn't step back. "Open the front door. I'll put these boxes in the foyer."

I turned and looked at his tired face. It had been a while since he shaved, I noticed. There was gray hair in his beard and shadows beneath his brown eyes. "I'll put them all in the foyer. Make some tea for when I'm finished, okay?"


When the boxes were drying in the foyer and the rain outside had lessened to a faint clatter on the roof, I plugged in the DVD player and pressed PLAY. Dad had made tea, but declined my efforts to watch The Shining together. Instead, he went into the office to play a game of solitaire on his laptop.