Weather Report

Just a quick piece of fiction written around a friend's topic suggestion: 'weather report'.

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Jennie tugged her glove off with her teeth. Activating the touch screen on her phone, she scrolled to the weather application. There at the top appeared an icon of a waning moon with wispy clouds passing by. 61 and partly cloudy.

But Barcelona was a dream away.

Jennie felt the icy burn of snow melting on her neck. Readjusting her scarf and cursing her now frozen bare fingers, she quickly shoved both hands deep into her coat pockets. The snow was going to get deep. It was already over her ankles and continued to fall fast in big puffy clumps. Fortunately, she didn't have far to go to get to her apartment.

The first extra city she had added to the weather application had been for a vacation. It was handy knowing the weather she was traveling to. Later she added the homes of friends and relations living far away. She felt a little more connected to people she missed when she knew their weather.

In the past month, as she became more and more tired of the winter gray of home, Jennie had added places she fantasized about visiting. Barcelona, Venice and Cairo were made available to her at all times, virtually through her phone.

She shook off a layer of snow when she entered her apartment. Jennie stumbled around at the door as as she stripped off her wintry gear. Solomon, who normally met with a leg rub and purr, kept his distance from the shower of damp and growing puddles on the floor. Smart cat.

Half an hour later, she was dry and warm. A hot cup of tea was in her hand. Dinner was warming in the oven. Solomon rubbed himself against her leg as she looked out the livingroom window. It was dark out, but in the light of the street lamps she saw the falling flakes and blanketed white streets.

Picking up her phone and glancing down she started scrolling through her cities. It was 58 and partly cloudy in Barcelona. Venice was cooler at 44 with rain. Cairo also had partly cloudy skies and 55 degree weather. Atlantis had sun and lightning.

Jennie stared at the screen and read it again. Atlantia, 95 degrees. And there at the top, an unfamiliar icon: three yellow suns with red lightning bolts raining down. The rest of the week showed more lightning and sun.

Outside the snow kept falling.