DeviantRye

 Thunder in the night. They needed the rain; it was far too dry lately, far too dry for being so close to the Fourth.  All those fireworks, all the grasslands outside the city--it made her nervous.  She thought of California and its troubles with fire.  When she was five she had to be taken out of the class whenever the subject of fire safety came up.  Even learning how to prepare for fire terrified her; it meant acknowledging everything she loved could burn away.  She got more of a grip as she grew older, but... Well, there was a reason she never picked up smoking, and it wasn't fear of lung cancer. The thunder was getting closer.  She