It was after dropping off Sal for his afternoon Chemistry class that she had a day to spare. Just a few hours more honestly, but hours in the afternoon seemed to stretch on for her these days. Mornings and evenings would fly by but the liminal space of sunny, summer afternoons made her feel like she could take eternal cat naps and still awake before rush hour.

It had been a hot summer. Endless and countless days where she looked for things to do. When she was bored she got a drink. When she still felt bored, she got something to eat, even if she wasn't hungry. It gave her something to do, plus a new scenery to talk to.

Today the sky looked thick. It appeared the farmers would soon get their much needed rain. And

Westcity

folk would hope to have packed their umbrellas. She definitely hadn't, but that didn't matter because she would just drive around.

She made it to her favorite cafe before the rain began. On a table next to her was a physical issue of a

Balloon House

magazine. She sat staring out into the rain while sipping her

cappuccino

half listening to the

My Bloody Valentine

from the speakers and half to a pair of jolly linguistical type looking nerds discussing economics. She took her sips slow and once in awhile between these sips she wondered whether the owner of that magazine was even around anymore. 

"Hey, Chester," she asked the barista, "do you know who's this is?"

"Yeah guy left it around half hour ago. You can take it."

She hadn't read a physical magazine in at least a year. She was about to say in eons but that wasn't true. After proving to her fingertips that the magazine was in good shape... not crinkled and dry from getting wet, which would make her paranoid of it having been read on the toilet, she gleefully jumped in to a world of paper, images, and text.