• what did I do to deserve this? I asked myself over and over as I watched the storm clouds inch by in the sky, their color seemingly getting darker as the temperature dropped and the rain got colder. Was it because I called Gino Gambino a dork on that dare? Was it because I accidently forgot Peyo's birthday? What about the time I slept in late to Sam's opening day at "Sam's Body and Parts"? Or was it just because I am extremely jealous of Sasha?

    I looked back at Ian's note that was in the corner of the door:

    "Gone to Gambino Island, Will be back tomorrow
    ~Ian and Rufus"

    I knew why he'd gone to Gambino Island; he must have seen the news sometime while I was on my way over here. Cindy must have broadcasted a storm for the Island. So he must have gone to check on her to make sure she was safe. But the storm heading for the Island took a new direction and just so happened to hit where I was heading to. I sighed sadly and sat on a crate that was thankfully out of the way of the rain.

    I dont know how long I sat there but when I finally realized that the drizzle of rain was the lightest it was going to go I got up and started walking back to where I had left my bike, I didn’t bother going under the canopies because they were blowing with the wind and the whole sidewalk was soaked, as was I. I kept trudging though, hoping a little that when I got to my bike and started riding that the sun would come out and I could dry off before I got home. But no sooner had the thought of the sun's warm rays entered my mind then the rain started pouring again.

    ~+~

    Nicolae looked out the window of his shop, he'd made it before the storm and had just enough time to unhook his horse from the shop and tie it to a tree with its reins before the rain hit. He'd seen a girl in a black jacket and black skirt run by earlier but paid it no mind; it wasn’t any of his business. He was to busy tinkering with a ring buffer, trying to get it to work better.

    He looked up again and noticed the girl from before, but she wasn’t running or cursing or falling the way she had been the first time she came through. This time she was walking along slowly, as if she had a weight on her back, Nicolae narrowed his eyes and looked out a different window, it was about to get worse, and she was walking right into it.

    Why do I care? Nicolae asked himself and turned back to his table, her heard the thunder and it made him look up again at the window, the girl was in the middle of the street, looking up at the sky. She looked so sad. Bit grinded his teeth together and shoved himself away from the table, he opened up the door and looked up at the sky, "Oi! You! Girlie!"

    ~+~

    Someone was calling me, well; they had to yelling at me, I was the only girl on the street. I looked down from the rain and looked to a wagon where the sound was coming from, there was a man in a green Scottish cap waving me over. Normally I would have high tailed it back to my bike and went somewhere but with the lightening over head and the look on his face....I dont know. Something just told me to do it.

    He opened up the door and yelled again for me to stop standing around and staring and get inside where it was warm. I walked over and inside, as he stepped back. I looked around and realized where I was, he was the new street vender who had just come from Aekea, and people had been buzzing about it. Especially since the Animated had been showing up. Thankfully the things around Barton had yet to show up.

    "Thank you." I said dully and looked at him; he was at least a foot or two taller than me with his white shirt open, a scarf around his neck. His hair was wavy and a golden kind of color. He thrusted a towel in my face and looked me up and down.

    "Here, dont get my shop wet. Dont touch anything either." He smiled over his shoulder, "Unless you plan on buying it." I couldn’t stop myself from rolling my eyes, now I remembered all the comments about the vender: cruel, mocking, indifferent, greedy and selfish.

    "Right, I'll remember that." I looked away and started to towel dry my hair, when it was finally dry enough that it wouldn’t stick to me, I dried off my legs and shirt, soon the towel was soaked with rain water. I stood and looked out the window as the man sat down at his table. Picking up some odd gold thing and tinkering with it.

    I had to admit he had some interesting things on his walls; I looked about the cabin for a moment when he looked up from his work and snapped, "Get a seat will ya? I said you couldn’t touch that didn't mean you can’t sit!" I jumped and sat down on a seat, he was kind of scary when he was mad.

    ~+~

    She was a quite one, and I was surprised she hadn't touched anything yet. That’s what most people do when they entered Nicolae's shop, touch, look at, think about, see the price tag, drop it and leave. But no, she was different. She sat down on a spare chair he had and looked about the cabin with muted interest.

    "Why were you out in a storm anyways?" He asked, normally Nicolae liked silence but when there was another person in the room it made it awkward. "Had somewhere to be? Or just stupid?" He smiled and didn’t look up from his work, he almost had it now.

    "No." The girl looked up from something on the floor and glared at him, but the glare lost its muster and she looked back to the floor, "I was going to visit my friend Ian at the Barton Boutique today...but it started storming before I go there..." She looked down and sighed, "And then when I did get there....he wasn’t open. He's gone to Gambino Island."

    "Gambino Island?" Nicolae looked up, "Before a storm? Why?"

    "Not sure..." The sad look in her eyes darkened as she blinked slowly, "He must have went to check up on his friend Sasha who lives there, must have been worried about the storm. Cindy said it was supposed to hit the island, not Barton." Nicolae went back to his work halfway through her explanation. Problems like these weren't his forte.

    "I see. So just really bad timing for you eh sweetheart?" He laughed a bit and looked over at the window as lightening flashed, making her jump and squeak. "You alright?" He looked over at her; she was shivering in her seat, "Cold?"

    "No..." Her voice even shook, "I just hate lightening. I usually sleep or occupy myself when a storm happens."

    "Well." Nicolae looked around, surely he had something she could do, if she kept squeaking like that she's distract him from his work. "You can’t sleep here, it’s not a hotel... but..." He grabbed a needle and some thread, "Can you sew?"

    ~+~

    Sewing had been a past time of mine, especially in a storm. "Yes." I nodded and took the needle and thread from him, "Do you need something done?" I watched as he nodded, bending over behind his table he brought out two things I thought I'd never see from a man his age. Garlic and a Plain Fluff pulshies. I raised my eyebrows and looked at him.

    "Found 'em on the road sweetheart, dont get your hopes up. I can’t get these things to sell either." He handed them to me and i realized why, the Fluff plushie was falling apart and the garlic plushie was dirty as ever! Even a bum wouldn’t buy these things! "Fix 'em up nice for me and I'll try and sell 'em." He walked back to his table and picked up the gold thing again.

    I looked around the floor and found everything I needed, a wash cloth to wash off the garlic plushie, I'd noticed a barrel of rain water outside by the tree the cabin was stopped by, a horse was drinking out of it. There was also cotton in a bag and more colored thread among the table. "You have everything you need to fix them up..." I said as I took apart the fluff plushie gently, "Why haven’t you done it before?"

    His response was light and absentminded, "Sewing is a woman’s job."

    I felt my eye twitch, yes I'm a feminist even though I have been known to be recognized as one of the boys. "Your such a sexist pig." And dumped the dirty cotton onto the floor as he flashed a charming smile at me.