• The wind rushed through the long, green grass as the warm sun beat down on it, blowing a pleasant, sweet smell into Lynne's face. She lazily opened an eye and looked up at the clouds above her. It was sunset; the sky above was stained with pinks and oranges, a deep blue down on the horizon, the clouds dyed deep reds and purples, and the whole thing was very pretty.

    "So you weren't sleeping?" the magpie beside her asked. Lynne looked at him.

    "I guess not," she said sleepily, as she sat up. "But I'm tired enough. We should go home."

    She continued looking up at the clouds. "Clouds are pretty today," she murmured. "Might have a little rain this evening."

    "That would be nice," the dæmon said, nodding. "A little bit of rain would be a welcome sight. We could use some excitement after such a lazy afternoon."

    Lynne stood up, reaching for L'ehve. He hopped up into her hand, then fluttered up onto his usual perch on her shoulder. Lynne brushed the grass off her skirt and walked off onto the dirt road.

    It had been a lazy summer afternoon indeed. Lynne and her dæmon had spent it lying on a grassy bank in front of a pond, basking in the summer sun. She had taken out a sketchbook at one point and had her dæmon pose for her, but that was probably the most exciting thing that happened.

    It was slowly getting dark, and Lynne kept glancing over her shoulder at the clouds above her. They, too, seemed darker, blacker, unlike the friendly, puffy ones they had been gazing at earlier.

    "Definitely looks like rain," L'ehve muttered, even as a few drops fell on him. "We better hurry if we don't want to get wet."

    "Yeah," Lynne agreed, quickening her pace. As she hurried along, the drizzle grew steadier and harder, forcing her to use her book bag to keep her head dry.

    "Well, dang. We should have left earlier, shouldn't we?" the dæmon remarked. Lynne said nothing; she merely rolled her eyes at him. Her eyes wandered up ahead; they had passed some sort of shelter on their way down to the pond, hadn't they? She looked; yes, they had, it was there. She hurried to it and looked at it.

    "An old chicken coop?" her dæmon asked incredulously. "You can't be serious."

    "Beggars can't be choosers, my dear L'ehve," Lynne said irritably as she climbed inside. "Do you want to stay dry or not?"

    "Well, certainly, but I definitely don't want to be staying in what was once the dwelling of disgusting lower-life forms," L'ehve said snootily, shaking his feathers dry.

    "Snob," Lynne said, sticking her tongue out at him. "There's nothing wrong with chickens. Not all birds can be as cool as you magpies. And anyway there haven't been any in here for a long time, by the looks of things."

    "Hmph."

    They stayed there for a little while, playful banter being tossed back and forth between the human and her dæmon.

    "Oh! Lynne! I thought I recognized your voice!"

    Lynne and L'ehve started, and they looked out the front opening of the coop. Standing out there was Lynne's friend, Wesley. Standing next to him was his jackal dæmon, Althæa. Wesley was holding an umbrella.

    "So what are you doing in this weather and in the dark?" he asked with a playful grin. "In an old chicken coop of all places!"

    Lynne could not help but grin, herself. "Ah...that is...we weren't able to make it home before dark...and then the rain came, so we're just staying in here and waiting for the rain to pass."

    "Lucky I was around; weatherman said it's gonna be all night. You'll be really cold," Wesley said, opening the wire door and offering his hand. "Come on out, I'll walk you home."

    Lynne smiled and took his hand. "...Okay," she said, carefully stepping out. Together, hand in hand, they walked home in the rain.