She had a new section of story to add to what she'd started last night. Logging
into FanFiction.Net she noticed there were already a few positive comments on
what she'd written so far. She lost her scowl and happily cautioned herself
that it was probably just because there wasn't much competition at the moment.
Soon she was typing away, adding paragraph after paragraph of adventure in the
seaside village.

Lunch time rolled around and Rebecca decided not to waste all her free time
inside. She grabbed her current book and her keys and walked out to the city
park nearby. It was another sunny day and she found a bench in a warm place on
the grass.

She was completely engrossed when she noticed a faint dimming of the sunlight.
She looked up, oddly expecting to see someone standing over her, but found the
park empty. She looked higher, and saw that rain clouds had been creeping up
from the horizon, sidling up to the sun. Bec sighed and closed her book; she
knew all the clear weather couldn't have lasted.

She couldn't bring herself to go back home. There might have been some other
violated personal possession waiting to be discovered there. Instead she took
herself to a coffee shop and ordered a fruit smoothie, sitting in one of the
shop's uncomfortable mismatched wooden chairs. She looked at her book as she
slurped smoothie through her straw, but couldn't seem to immerse herself in the
story. Eventually she just kept reading the same line over and over again.

She finished the smoothie and threw away the plastic cup it came in with a
disgruntled sigh. Lucy's presence even took away her pleasure in reading. Maybe
it was time she thought about getting a real job so she could move into her own
place. Even one of those horrible dental assistant training programs always
advertised on television would be better than this.