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A chance encounter in a downpour leads to a new friendship. By Momoko Hamer.

Feeling the first cold, wet drops hit my neck, I looked up towards the sky. In seconds, it went from drizzling to pouring, and I rushed under the nearest roof–one that hung off of an old closed-down store–for a moment of cover. I swung my bag off of my shoulder, digging through it with one hand to feel for the foldable umbrella I usually carried. Unable to find it, I cursed myself for not bringing it the one day I actually needed it. I didn’t have any money for bus fare, and I really didn’t want to walk twenty minutes in this downpour. I figured the rain would die down soon enough, and decided to try to wait it out here. Just as I had prepared myself for a long and boring wait, I heard footsteps approaching quickly. Looking up, I saw a boy about my age running towards me through the rain. He must have also wanted a moment of cover. He didn’t slow down as he got closer, though, and I quickly jumped to the side as he practically ran into the wall next to me. Turning towards me, he grinned.

“It sure is raining a lot, isn’t it?” he said.

“Y-yeah,” I replied, still slightly shocked, and for the first time, I got a good look at the boy.

He had curly brown hair and a bright yellow sweatshirt, both soaking wet from the rain, but what stood out to me were his shoes-or rather, his shoe. On one foot, he wore a Nike sneaker, while the other had only a sopping wet sock.

“Uh.. You do realize you’re missing a shoe?” I asked, gesturing towards his feet.

The boy looked down at his feet, then back up at me, saying, “Oh, yeah. It came off when I was running. I’ll go back and get it when it stops raining.”

“How do you know someone won’t take it?” I asked, feeling both concerned and a bit confused. “If you found a sopping wet shoe on the side of the road, would you take it?”

“Well, no…”

“Exactly. I’m sure it’ll be fine,” he said smugly, as if he had just proven a point.

A long silence stretched between us. It made me uncomfortable, but the boy didn’t seem to notice. Unable to bear it any longer but also not wanting to leave the safety of the roof, I pulled a novel from my bag. Turning away from the boy, I opened it up, planning on ignoring him and reading to pass the time. Suddenly, he reached out, grabbing the book right out of my hands.

“Hey, what are you doing?” I asked, irritation sneaking into my voice as I grabbed for it. The boy was taller than me and much quicker, too, and my hands missed by a mile as he pulled it up and out of my reach.

“I’ll read this. You can read mine if you want,” he said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out not a book, but a crumpled up store catalogue. Hesitating for a second, I grabbed the catalogue and flipped through a few pages of colourful couches, clothes, and fancy throw pillows before shoving it back into his hands.

“Didn’t like it?” he asked, glancing up from the pages of my book.

“I would rather read my book, you know, the one I’m in the middle of,” I said reaching for it again.

He pulled away, raising the book up over his head.

“This is interesting so far. You have good taste in books,” he said.

“I’m not sure I would say the same for you,” I said pointing towards the catalogue under his arm.

The boy continued to read my book, flipping through the pages with surprising speed. I gave in and decided to let him read it for a bit, staring up at the edge of the roof to watch big wet raindrops roll off and hit the pavement.

We stayed like that for several minutes until suddenly, the boy looked up from the book, then slammed it shut. Without warning, he pushed it into my hands.

“Thanks. Maybe I’ll finish it some time.”

As soon as he said this, he walked out from under the roof and started in the direction he had come from.

“Wait!” I called out automatically, “Where are you going?”

“To find my shoe!” he yelled back, waving in my direction.

“Hold on! I’ll come with you!” I said, grabbing my bag in one hand. I jogged over to where he was waiting, my heart beating quickly.. Every minute with him under the roof had been unexpected, but strangely, I wanted to be with him a bit longer, just to see what might happen. The rain had stopped and the clouds were cleared away and, before I knew it, the sun was shining again.