It stormed outside the window of a small apartment early on a Monday morning. At 5am the alarm beeped and a sleepy hand stretched out from under the bed sheets and banged the top of the alarm until the beeping stopped. The sleepy person attached to the hand got out of bed and crept anxiously to the window to see if the rain had stopped. This was how every morning began for Leslie. It had been raining for 106 days straight and it showed no signs of letting up.

Leslie got dressed in her all grey work uniform and headed out to catch the bus. Leslie hated her job. Even though she had been working there for five years, yesterday her boss made her go get coffee for him and the young interns. This was the first time he’d talked to her in two weeks, most of the days they treated her as if she was not even there. Leslie always sat in silence and did her work as best she could in hope that she would be able to go home early. But any time there was a slight chance of that her boss would make her do twice the amount of work and she’d end up staying late. Leslie wanted to quit more than anything in the world, but she didn’t have the courage.
On this particular morning she had a new feeling deep inside her gut as she rode the bus all alone. It was a small feeling, she wasn’t sick or anything she just felt a little different. As soon as she walked into the office she could tell it was going to be a bad day. Her boss was sitting in her chair with his feet up on the desk surrounded by the interns laughing about a crude joke he must have just made. When Leslie walked over to her desk to hang her coat up her boss said “Why don’t you put that jacket back on and run down to Starbucks to get us all a coffee, and don’t mess mine up this time.” Leslie did not say anything, but she didn’t feel like doing as he said either, so instead she just stared at him.

“Is there something wrong with you lady? Did you hear me? I said…”
“I know what you said,” interrupted Leslie. “And I’m not going to do it. I’m going to collect my things and leave. And you are never going to see me again. Goodbye.” And with that she grabbed her coat and calmly walked out the door of the office. Immediately as she stepped outside the rain began to slow until it finally stopped completely. Then the clouds began to part. Leslie was showered with sunlight and warmth her entire walk back to her small apartment.