Doug had never been a lucky man. He lost his brother when he was twelve and his mom when he was seventeen. Watched his dad fill in that pond the day after his mom's funeral. That pond, brackish and still as it was, took and took from the Riley family. First his brother in an accident, and then his mother. She'd never been the same after Derron had died. And Doug never really learned if she meant to drive her car into that pond. A year later, he'd tried to get shit together. He was going to leave Desolation, leave that goddamn pond behind. Doug was gonna get an education, and make something of himself. But Dad got sick, and college got put off. Five years later he's putting Dad in the ground next to Mom and Derron.

He thought idly about joining them for a bit after that. If that pond was still there, he probably would have walked off into it that night. But the store needed someone to run it, and Doug-- Doug didn't want to die. At the very least, he knew that. 20 years flew by, and he never did make it to college. He was still in Desolation, still at the grocery store. Growing as stagnant as that damned water, his future just as murky. 'Cuz really, what the fuck did he have to live for?

The day he saw her, it was pouring rain. She came in with the lightning, and he felt the thunder rumbling, deep in his marrow. Or maybe his heart was just beating that fast. Kinda hard to tell, honestly. He didn't strike up a conversation with her, just watched as she moved around the shop. Buying groceries, enough to stock up a house. He found the courage to ask her if she was new around, and her smile made him blink. Fuckin' electrified him. She was damp with the rain, her hair slicked back from her face. He couldn't remember the last time he looked a person in the eyes. But he looked into hers and had the strangest feeling of being seen.

Doug doesn't remember what he says after that. Can't remember what the fuck she told him, either. But he can see her. He can smell the rain when he closes his eyes, his heart thundering when he thinks of what rain normally means to him. Flooding. Drowning. That brackish pond that used to be at the front of his house. Nothing good. And maybe he was right. Maybe she wasn't any good. But she'd likely never come into his store again. She was a new arrival, and she'd see how much the town was dying soon enough. He didn't have high hopes for her.

But he was wrong. She came in every Tuesday and Friday, always for something or other. She asked him questions, and he answered. Kept his tone brusque, his answers clipped. He didn't want to get attached. Didn't want to start hoping for anything. It could be bright and sunny outside, and he could still smell the rain on her. He started thinking about murky waters a little less when she came 'round. Started hoping that she would come in with the rain when it poured down, just like that first day. Nothing ever changed around here, except for her. And Doug was quickly learning how much he craved change.

It's raining again, thundering and lightning as he stands inside the store. He's got his hair pulled back as he fills out a crossword, his focus half on the puzzle and half on the door. There's a small voice reminding him how dangerous storms can be, how that damn pond would always flood during them. But he can barely focus on that now, wondering whether or not she would come in with the thunder the same way she did the first time.

The bell above the door rings and Doug looks up. He doesn't smile, but his posture does soften when he sees her. "You look like shit," he says, his quiet voice surprisingly blunt. He gives her a small smile then, softening the words. "Did ya really brave the weather just to buy those damn snack cakes ya like so much? Bit foolhardy."