The rain continued to fall at a significant rate with no appearance of quitting any time soon. The constant pitter patter of the rain was only interrupted by the couple of cars that drove by. But Josh walked on and soon found he was near a bus stop. "Too bad I don't have a bus pass." He muttered to himself as he took refuge from the constant barrage of the rain in the empty, enclosed stop. He furled up his umbrella and sat down in the enclosure. Back a few years back, the city started to put on these plexiglass enclosures up after much of the community complained about the long waits for the public transportation and having to do so with the constantly changing weather. 'At least, I can take a small break.' Josh thought to himself as he heard a squeaking sound. The sound reminded him of the horrible carts at the big-box store Wal-Mart.
"Is this seat taken?" A gravely voice asked as Josh turned to see an older woman pushing a well worn walker. Her hair looked like she had just got out of the shower and her clothes were sopping wet too. Josh got up and offered her the seat. He gazed out the opening, almost as if he was entranced by the white noise that the rain caused. "It's really coming down today, isn't it?" The older lady asked him, which caused him to shake his head and come back to reality.
He nodded his head. "Yeah, it certainly is." Josh replied back to her. "It's almost like it came out of nowhere."
"Yes and I can certainly feel it in my old bones." The older lady said back to him. Josh looked over and noticed that she seemed to be wringing her hands trying to alleviate some of the pain that the years of hard work caused in her hands.
"I have some aspirin." Josh announced as he began to rummage through his pack to find the elusive treasure. He found it laying at the bottom of his pack and offered the well used bottle. Even though students weren't allowed to bring medication to school without a doctor's prescription. But as they always say, 'What they don't know can't hurt them.'
"Aren't you sweet." The elderly lady responded back to him as she took the almost empty bottle and took out several of the round pills. She popped them into her mouth and proceeded to swallow them without the need of refreshment. Handing the bottle back over to Josh, she noticed the look of wonder on his face. "Oh, as you get older you certainly get used to taking medication." She chuckled as she began to get back up. "I think I've doddled here long enough." Josh, with his years in community service projects, quickly made his way over to her and assisted her. "Why thank you young man."
"How much farther do you have to walk?" Josh inquired as he stepped back to allow her the exit.
"Oh, I think I have a mile left." The older lady answered back to him with a smile on her face, it was almost like it was no big deal. "The bus system doesn't go anywhere near my house, unfortunately."
Josh looked down at his umbrella and back at the drenched elderly lady. After feeling sympathy for her, he offered her his only protection from the deluge coming out of the sky. "Here, I think you will need this more than I do." He replied as held out the umbrella.
Awestruck, the older lady graciously accepted the item that would increase her protection from the rain. "But won't you get wet?" She asked.
"Yeah, but I live just 2 blocks that way." He answered as he gestured further down the road.
"Well, you're going to give me this gift." She started to say as she began to look through her bag draped around her walker.
"Oh, you don't have to." He began to say but soon found a handful of dust being blown into his face and started a coughing fit.
"You have given me this gift and I will give this gift. You will be able to experience the way others live, but only with their permission." She replied with a smile as she began to turn.
"Wait..." Josh called out to her. "What do you mean experience?"
"Oh, I mean that you will be able to swap traits with another person, but only with their permission." She replied back to him.
"Did you really have to blow that stuff into my face?" He wondered as he turned to gather up his items. Not hearing anything, Josh turned back around to the older lady and noticed that she was nowhere to be found. Looking up and down the street in hopes to find his gracious gift giver, but only found the occasional stray animal wandering the rain soaked streets. "What the..." He shook his head in disbelief. "Well, I guess I better get back to getting home before Courtney and Bri worry." With the rain coming down and no umbrella to be found, Josh found he made better time. Several minutes later, Josh found his way back to the home and in the bathroom to dry off and put on some dry clothes. Having found some drier clothing, he made his way to his room to see about getting his homework done.
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