Jennifer loved the drive to work. It was never cold in southwest Florida, so she kept the windows down year-round, letting the breeze flow through her hair. It added its own pulsating rhythm to the melodies of her ZZ Top album, and was the same breeze that gently swayed the palm trees that lined the parkway. After seven years in Florida, she still marveled at the palm trees.

She sat behind her desk at the back of the store, watching a balding man circle an overstuffed leather sofa for the fifth time. She felt annoyed with him. Just buy the damned thing already.

When I got home from work, I stepped into the bedroom and noticed that I’d already laid out my clothes for the night.

I smiled.

It was going to be a big night.

When the alarm sounded, I hit the snooze button. At least I thought I did. I woke up thirty minutes later- fifteen minutes late. 

I leapt from bed to the kitchen to make a pot of coffee and scrambled to take a shower, cursing my luck. I nicked myself shaving, and realized only after I’d donned a black shirt that all my black socks were dirty.

I needed to take a walk. Outside, snow was falling in in large, swirling flurries, but it wasn't coating the ground. I stood in the doorway, watching the flakes fall, and rise again, then flutter to the ground, only to disappear.