For some reason the local police had decided to put up yellow crime scene tape around the place, which caused people to stop and stare even more than the devastation itself. You’d think they were expecting a dead person to just materialize out of nowhere. We stood together, surveying the wreckage in the pouring down rain. Ash had been out there for over an hour. Her black t-shirt was soaked and clung to her skin, while her hair stuck to the back of her neck where it was tied back in a ponytail. Stray strands were stuck to the sides of her face as the droplets weaved their way down her face like tears. Maybe there were tears intermingled. She looked as though she could cry, but I knew she wouldn’t. She shivered against her crossed arms as she rubbed them to try to generate heat. We stood there like that under the massive umbrella I’d brought out for a while before she finally caved and took the steaming thermos of hot chocolate I’d offered her when I first arrived. It seemed to reignite her.
