Member-only story
A Sudden Change in the Weather
A short story by Tommy Paley
The day started like so many do; nondescript and with a faint hint of wood varnish.
But, it wasn’t just any old day. No, it was the day we’d both been preparing for. The day it was all going to change, forever.
I nervously glanced over at her to see if she seemed phased or daunted by the enormity of the task ahead, but, as I should have guessed, she seemed as cool as a cucumber that had been chilled over night in the coolest part of the refrigerator.
Her attitude was as cool as it was redundant.
And then, as if on cue, the rain came.
Another sudden change in the weather.
This rare event had become so common the past month it no longer made sense to call it a “rare event” unless speaking sarcastically or using air quotes like it was the 90s, which I often pretended it was to varying degrees of acceptance or tolerance from others.
How I pined to wonder aloud about the weather these days, but I’d learned the hard way about asking too many questions especially the types of questions that drew blank stares, followed by lots of blinking and head scratching. She hated blinking with a passion that she usually reserved for parfaits and commuter trains.