Danny Williams looked out through the open slats of his kitchen window at the rain, a sudden burst that had started just before dawn and was now slacking off as quickly as it had started. In this limbo state between the glittering lights of night and the brilliant sun of day, the buildings outside were almost invisible, hidden by a curtain of gray.
Sometimes this city almost looks like San Francisco, he thought in amusement, putting bread in the toaster, and remembering chilly mists and the omnipresent sound of the foghorn. Not exactly the same temperature, though...
He turned up the heat under the kettle, a pleasant waft of cool moisture through the window underscoring his thoughts as he looked out. Occasional larger drops were mixed in now, caught by the sun so they glittered like crystals suspended in the air.
By the time he was sitting at the small dinette table with toast and instant coffee, the mist had cleared and the sky was palest pastel blue, tinged with a delicate pink towards the East. Small rafts of darker blue clouds limned in gold stretched across the western sky as though driven before the rising sun. The birds, unaccustomedly silent during the rain, were making up for lost time, the short calls of zebra doves, the deeper coos of their larger cousins, the melodious songs of bulbuls, and the whistles of mynahs making a pleasant cacophony.
Morning traffic was picking up, too, the background noises of the cars forming an underlying swish to the closer sounds of the awakening city. Danny finished his toast, hearing the clatter of kitchen noises from a nearby apartment as the neighborhood stirred to life. I certainly eat better when I'm at Steve's, he thought ruefully, washing his few dishes in the sink, the light outside growing stronger as the sun's rays slanted across the city.
A motorcycle carrying a boy and a girl in a flowered skirt made its way up his street, the purr of the engine cutting through the air. Danny finished the dishes, stacking the last in the drainer. I'm looking forward to today. We finally caught that psycho who was stalking us, so we don't have to stay apart any more.
He went to the bedroom to get dressed, smiling as he thought of the day to come. Our youth team's baseball game after work, and then meeting Steve for dinner in Waikiki. And afterwards, back to his place...
As he left his apartment building and headed for his car he took a deep breath of the soft air, enjoying the golden light washing the buildings around him and the azure of the sky above. Definitely something to look forward to.
Author's Note: This takes place before Vignette #1.