Being in the subway felt like someone had thrown you in a pot of boiling water. It was difficult to just breathe. However the weather seemed to be able to completely change in the 20 minute ride to the center.
I heard cracks of thunder overheard as we stepped through the ticket barrier and one look up the escalators told me that hell had broken lose; it was pouring and storming. There was an eerie atmosphere in the air, one that only ever occurred during a thunderstorm.
"Shit, I'm so hot. Some rain would be amazing." Cassie said.
"Yeah, but we'll get wet. If I had wanted to go swimming I'd have worn a bikini instead."
"Are you made from sugar? It's just a little water," she stated and already stepped onto the escalator without waiting for an answer. With a groan I followed her.
By the time we had come up at the surface, and mind you that was only a few seconds, we were completely drenched and wet to the bone. It was as though someone had poured several buckets of water on us.
"Yeah, what a great idea," I said sarcastically.
"Alright, I didn't think it was going to be that bad," Cassie defended herself.
We ran for cover but it took a while until we had somewhere that wasn't occupied yet, a storefront with a canopy overhead.
"Look," I said after a good ten minutes of just standing around and hearing the rain drum on the canopy and the sidewalk, "this doesn't seem to pass anytime soon, we could just go and buy what we came here for. And I'll need new shoes because these literally squeak with every step I take." To emphasize my words I walked a few steps on the spot, sure enough a squeaking sound came from my feet, water bubbled out of the sides of the shoes.
"Okay. Let's go to Primark real quick, get some dry clothes and an umbrella, then we can get your supplies. And dinner, because I'm not leaving the hotel again once we're back."
It was the best plan we had. Quickly we made our way to Primark through the mostly deserted streets. People had fled into stores in order not to get wet so there was barely anyone on the streets now. Puddles formed in any hole the water found which meant we stepped into ankle deep water more than once, but I couldn't get any more wet than I already was.
I bought myself some slip-on sandals and a sweater, as well as an Umbrella. My shorts I kept on and hoped for the best, they would be getting wet soon enough anyway. And since even my panties were wet, the new pants would have ended up with questionable stains in questionable places. No thank you.
"So, where to?" Cassie asked once we had stepped outside.
The thunder was distant now, only occasionally loud and the rain had ceased it's force. It was dripping here and there but not nearly as much.
"I mean, there's gotta be a craft store around here somewhere. Amsterdam is a home to artists, they have to get their shit somewhere."
"So the plan is 'run around until we find something'?"
"Do you have a better plan?"
"You convinced me, let's go."
_____
It took us, thankfully, not that much of wandering through overflowing streets to find a craft store, this time I navigated around the puddles more gracefully and managed to avoid all of them.
A cool, air-conditioned breeze came towards us when we stepped into the well-lit shop, apparently we were the only customers at the moment. A bell jingled overhead as we pushed the door open. I saw that paintings hung on the cream-colored walls, several pictured cherry and magnolia blossom trees on various backgrounds, others showed idle parks and landscapes.
YOU ARE READING
The New American Dream
Teen Fiction"I see the world and it seems like I see it so differently than most other people. It makes me really angry most of the time. Especially since no one ever listens to me or what I've got to say. I try to express myself in so many different ways and n...
