may 30, 2001. His voice was quiet and I had to concentrate to hear it over the sound of cars rushing by on the nearby road. I was walking up the hill, my enormous backpack strapped onto my back and my plaid umbrella effectively warding off the occasional droplet. I saw him standing at the end of the parking lot, looking at the ground. White hair, stooped back, pale clothing and pants hitched waaaay up - you know, the kind of person you're supposed to laugh at. But I never found the simple fact of being old funny. I guess there's something wrong with me. Indubitably: I try my best to make eye contact with everyone I see. Born & bred in an angry city, it takes a lot of effort to overcome my early conditioning, but I try. And so our eyes met. I smiled, a forced hungry-at-the-end-of-the-day-and-this-goddamn-hill-doesn't-help smile. He smiled back at me, but his was the real deal. I immediately felt better. "You must be the young lady I've been waiting for, the one that brought all the rain!" he said happily. The force of his joy made me grin too, an honest neat-o grin. I stopped and faced him expectantly, feet next to one another. "I guess I must be," I agreed. "I didn't think I was, but I guess I must be." "We were down in Kentville today, and it only rained on half the town!" His grin changes slightly to a can-you-believe-it? smile. I can't. I remark on how good everything smells. He turns back to his original study of the ground, which I now realize is a study of his patchy lawn. "I seeded all of this, and it just hasn't grown. It will now. Of course," he said, even quieter, "then I'll have to mow it." "That's the problem," I said, as I suddenly began to walk away. "If it rains, you have to mow it. If it doesn't, it gets all bald & patchy." "Guess who I am." I told the Boy over the phone. "You're Amoret." "Nope." I shook my head. "I'm the young lady who brought all the rain." "Is it raining there?" "Yeah. And I brought it." "Amoret, Storm Bringer." "No. I don't need the superhero stuff. That's for when I want ordinary life to be special. This is already special."