Chapter 26 - Rainfall

A hard rain continued to fall and smack everything in sight with the wet slap of countless individual water droplets. The sound that came from the rain was loud and determined. The precipitation would not stop until everything dry was glistening in the broken moon light with the reflection of fresh rain.
LaVonda could hear the rain hitting the corrugated tin roof of her family’s shack. The smell of earth and water drifted into her bedroom where she and her two brothers slept. She could not sleep in this weather, but her two older brothers were out cold as she noticed their slow, measured breathing and complete stillness.
LaVonda turned her attention back to the sounds and smells of the action outside and yearned to get out of bed and go to the window where she could get a better view of the rain. But she was paralyzed with apprehension at the thought of stepping on the wood floor beneath her bed. It would sound out of place and harsh in the relative silence of the room and probably wake up her brothers. She pulled her blanket up a little closer to her head and closed her eyes and dreamed of falling rain.