Mosaic

Prologue

                The streets were bustling. The heavy wind created a ruckus. People were hurrying home; the stalls were closing, and the wind was picking pace. It seemed like the world walked in the same direction. The old, ratted sneakers stepped in the puddle, splashing violently. Home – where every foot moved towards at, yet these ran away from the most secured place.

               It thundered. No one was at sight. She walked with her hands in her coat, sniffling from time to time. It had been a long time since she cried. Tiny drops of rain pecked her all over the body. She had nowhere to go; at least that is what she believed. Not far away from her not-so-destined stroll, she sat at the bus stand. Sheltered in the open, away from the talkers and lookers. 

              She took a deep breath wiping her face with her wet hands. Her face was flushed, her thick eyebrows appeared messy. Her hair blew against her face from time to time. There she was, allowing herself to listen with pleasure – the cries of the earth.

                It was the loud thunder that broke her. She sobbed. Her hands covering her face, she gasped in between. It rained harder. The branches broke. The leaves were sore. The wind searched for someone... and it did. It drizzled. She sat there watching the air. Time was a foreign concept; had it been minutes? Hours? No one knew. Her hands warmed each other in her lap, it was cold, and she was drenched. Her head hung low. Her face was heated. 

                Something peeked from under the bench. It was packed in a well-secured plastic zip bag. She bent to pick it up. It was a book. It looked old and delicate. She flipped the bag. It read "Finder's keeper".