The beginning of winter festival always brought hope and compassion into the hearts of America. Thick snow fluttered down and settled into fluffy carpeting to the outside world. String lights of every color adorned the trimmings of houses, the light poles, and the trees in public parks.
It was also the time of year where migrant supers could find their place. Those gifted with ice and snow might make beautiful sculptures downtown. Pyrokinetics might help create the great bonfires, making them sway and swirl and crackle with grace and beauty.
At least, that's what the commercials on television claimed, that this year's winter festival would be more inclusive and merry and joyful than it ever has been in the history of America. Nobody believed that. Winter festival was a time to be exclusive, not inclusive. A time to turn your colored lights off and lock your doors if you lived near supers. It wasn't quite racism, so it wasn't exactly illegal.
A new commercial popped up and in homes across the country, people dialed up the volume, leaning toward the television set with bated breath.
“Citizens of the United States and New Alaska!” bellowed the chubby old woman, a plastered smile on her face. It was Marie Bernard-Tomas, the president of New Alaska. She gave a public announcement every few weeks, usually about the fate of American Supers. No one wanted to miss a word.
“I come to you today on the eve of winter festival. November thirtieth. Today is a wonderful day, but also a turn of history.” She glanced down at a podium. “It is with my pleasure to announce the conception of the Ray.”
The ray, a hypothetical device that could be used to scan people for Super blood. From birth, you could be slated with this burdensome title. Restrictions on housing, transportation, jobs, schools, and even which Wal-Mart you can shop at based on one little scan. It was outrageously unfair.
“The Ray will allow the US Government to properly prosecute criminals based not only on their sanity, health, and guilt, but now on blood status- to lock up the real criminals where they belong.” Marie B.T. continued, switching notecards.
“On a happier note, now,” she began with the same unchanging expression, a cemented, false smile, “the 2017 raffle has begun. Supers, check with your local government, preferably Town Hall, to ensure that you are registered to enter. Previous registrants will receive 5 tickets, while new registers will be waived of the avoidance fee and receive 1 ticket. The home that is being raffled off will be shown on the screen shortly- a modest seven bedroom, three story house with a basement in Star City, the melting pot of super and not!” she spits out the silly slogan like poison, putting down her cue card and waiting with that eerie face for the screen to change.

Jewel was working when the announcement came on, and it was like someone had paused time in the entire hospital, as everyone watched with bated breath. She had to do her best not to show any flicker of annoyance at what Marie was saying, until she began to speak about the Ray, then she let fear slide into her bones and she was sure it was one her face. Since she was unregistered, if the Ray was a real thing now she was in terrible danger, and she swallowed slightly as she thought about he next course of action. She shook her head as Marie began to talk about the raffle, stupid thing to make super's think they could live above their station, it didn't matter to anyone that they never heard from the winner again. Jewel sighed as she got back to work, ignoring the whispers of those around her and focusing on completing her tasks for the start of her shift.

Working in a hospital during the holidays was always a shot in the dark, you never knew how hectic it was going to be, except on Thanksgiving and Christmas when humans made stupid decisions. Living near a fairly large city though meant that she got her fair share of gunshot wounds and fight victims. It's too quiet she thought to herself as she sat down at a computer and began pulling up charts on the patients that had come in during the day and were still waiting to hear what was going on. Jewel kept to herself for the most part while she was working, only had a few friends and only one who knew that she was a super, she likes it that way to be honest, less chance of being caught out and losing everything she had worked for. She sighed as she stood up moving through the emergency department to check on the few patients that she had right now and to wait to see if any others came in through the night.

Through the window a downpour of rain gave the lamp lit courtyard below a sad look. Two men in long coats hurried about, one holding an umbrella to shelter himself from the rain, the other using a file bag for much the same reason. They looked like sad miniatures from the twenty-seventh store of the government's headquarters in their quest to control and regulate supers.

The window in the briefing rooms of these floors couldn't open, an automatic climate system took care of the temperature and humidity throughout the whole building. It was equipped with what had been state-of-the-art technology thirteen years ago when the building was designed.

The tv in the room was tuned in to this year's presidential speech, but Alexander wasn't listening. He knew what she was going to say. The halls had been buzzing with the news for days. The agency was quite excited now that the research was finally finished and the Ray approved. It would be a turning point in history indeed, though not a pleasant one if you were a super. Oh well, for him it didn't matter anymore. He was already registered, assigned a job and deemed under control.

Alexander followed the movements of the two black spots representing men down below until they disappeared inside the building, then looked at the clock. It was about time for his new handler to show up. She was his third handler in four years, the previous two both moving up the ladder after having worked with Alexander for a coule of years. With the last one they had caught that Rufus guy, effectively shutting down a significant Blue Jay cell in New York after nearly six months of field work. His handler had gotten a promotion for that. Alexander had been cleared of punishment for whatever they had accused him of this time.

Alexander turned off the tv as the Alaskan president finished her speech, grabbed the info of his new handler and flopped down on the couch, looking it over one more time. Cori Woods, a twenty-nine year old agent. She was young for a handler. Both his previous handlers had been above fourty. She had quite some years in the agency behind her though. She must be good at what she did to have made it this far so quickly. He wondered if her age would make her a little more receptive towards a super. Probably not though, since this was the agency that fought to suppress them. Most people who worked here had been taught from a young age that fear and hatred were the right emotions when dealing with a super.

Albino. That could be a plus. It would automatically turn people's attention to her, allowing Alexander to work from the shadows as he did best. And with that Ray to be put to use, Alexander guessed a lot of unwilling, unregistered supers would surface. Their department would be busy.

@Kidd

Sitting on a stool placed at the island in the center of the kitchen, Mario sat watching the television placed on the counter just a few feet away. He had a bowl of oatmeal in front of him, though it had gone cold as his hunger had dissipated while he was making it. He watched the chubby old woman on screen boast about some non-sense device that would change everything. Before she could continue on he flipped to sports center, trying to get an update on the Ravens score. The constant barrage of New alaska propaganda had become annoying to him, and had all sounded somewhat ridiculous to him. If they we're really striving for equality, why do they need to have a entirely separate place for super's to live? On screen the Sportscaster raved over Benjamin Watson's impressive play giving the Ravens a solid lead over the Titan's in the beginning of the third quarter.

Grinning, Mario turned off the Tv and dumped his oatmeal. As he washed his bowl, the screeching alarm rang throughout the station. running out of the kitchen and down the hall to the locker room behind the garage, Mario found most of the team already gearing up.
"You're slowing down, maybe the smoking is finally taking it's toll?" Captain Anders asked, already fully ready to go and waiting for the rest of his crew. He had for the most part trained each person on working for him and had bonded with everyone, including Mario. The two hold a sort of mentor-apprentice, Mario respecting the older, more experienced veteran and often seeks his guidance.
"Not everyone can be as strong willed as you sir!" Mario remarked sarcastically, as he quickly rushed to put his gear on. As repeatedly practiced, the entire crew was geared up and ready to roll up in minutes, and both rigs were on the road within four minutes of receiving the call. Mario sat back in the passenger seat of the cab, clearing his mind and preparing himself for the long day ahead of him.

There Jame's was, staring as his house was being consumed by a raging fire. He thought to himself as he stood across the street, phone in hand. Everything pointed to his crazy ex wife, Catherine. She was the only one that would do this. She almost got him too. James ran his free hand through his singed hair, feeling the burnt tips with his extra sensitive fingers. He would've died if it weren't for his nightmares. He had been dreaming of the night the government took his little girl away. It was her screams and both of their tears that had woke him up. Last thing he heard before rising was, "Run daddy, or they'll get you too."

Alice was a smart girl, but she was foolish. She wanted to impress her friends with a simple magic trick, but nothing is ever just a trick in Baltimore. Everyone had an eye out for a super. As soon as they were found they were taken away, regardless of curcomestance. They took his baby away, just for a simple magic trick.

James sat down on the sidewalk, listening to the sounds of his home burning. He felt the heat against his skin. Funny enough, it was keeping him warm in the harsh winter night. He closed his eyes, breathing in deep as he waited for the firemen. He was remembering that day, and Alice's warning. He realized then it wasn't his ex wife, but it was a self righteous bigot who thought they were doing what was best. That meant someone out there knew that it wasn't just his little girl that was special.

James opened his eyes, tears leaving a trail down his cheeks. He looked at the fire and thought maybe they weren't so different. Two fires made by the man that took away his daughter. Although, this time, he wouldn't get off so easily. James watched the house as he cried, revenge the only thing on his mind.

@LordLinguinie

---

---

The smell of chicken and dumplings filled the small apartment, from the old green couch with stead that gave no real support, to the tiny television set atop a box of Christmas decorations about to be opened. Tiny holiday lights hung over the single window, draped lazily across to look festive, and anime posters that would probably be considered embarrassing were taped to the dull cream-colored walls.

Velvet stepped out of the tiny kitchen with a long sigh, a steaming bowl of chicken and dumplings in her hands and a towel underneath to keep her hands from burning. She shuffled over to the couch and sank into it, an old wooden board stuck beneath the cushion to keep it from collapsing. Taking out the remote from between the cushions where it always seemed to fall, Velvet turned on the television.

She regretted it.

Velvet shakily put down her bowl onto the small black table beside the couch and put her hands over her mouth. Her life wasn't great, nowhere near perfect, but at least it had been hers. She sniffled and shook her head quickly, rubbing her eyes. As long as she didn't get into trouble, she was alright...

"...Right...?" She whispered into the suddenly silent, lonely apartment.

There Jame's was, staring as his house was being consumed by a raging fire...

James sat down on the sidewalk, listening to the sounds of his home burning. He felt the heat against his skin...

As the two firetrucks made there way down the suburban neighborhood to the house a blazing in a massive fire, Mario could see the silhouette of a person in front of the flames. As the two trucks came to a halt, and the crew began to immeadiately get two work pulling the hose out two contain the blaze, Mario rushed to the aid of the man in sitting in front of the blazing ruins of the house. The look on the mans face told a story Mario had experienced himself, and without even speaking to the man, he knew their were no other survivors in the flames. wrapping an emergency blanket around the ash covered civilian, Mario rushed him over to the arriving ambulance, to be given oxygen and have his vitals checked.

Meanwhile, the rest of the fire crew had jumped into action, getting both hoses set up and attacking the blaze from two sides. The house was inaccessible before they had even arrived, and there was no way there was enough structural integrity to send someone in for search and rescue, so they fought to keep the fire from spreading to the nearby houses, and tried to contain the amassing crowd of neighbors. As the remains of the house fell in on each other, and the blaze slowly withered away, Mario sat with the survivor of the blaze in the back of the ambulance, trying to comfort the distressed civilian.
"Can you tell me what happened?" Mario asked with a gentle tone. He had removed his helmet and gas mask, revealing his sorrowful eyes.

"I'll give you everything I have left and bet is one of them," James looked towards his neighbors with rage in his eyes. Someone tried to kill him, or at least scare him out of town. Well, it wouldn't work. If anything, it just gave him more reason to stay.

His least favorite neighbor glared back. The neighbor, Robert, always had it out for him. If anyone had the knowledge that James was different, this is what Robert would do with that knowledge.

"I was sleeping. There isn't a doubt in my mind someone did this. Who did it though, that's the question. If it's arson, the only two people that would have notice to do this is my ex wife Catherine and that guy over there," James pointed to Robert, watching his expression. Yeah, Robert had done it. And he knew that James knew. It was too late now. You can't take back a look, especially one that reeked shame. "Might want to start with him."

Robert had made a grave mistake. Now James had nothing to lose. His child was gone, his wife hated him, now all of his memories of the two were burning. Robert would suffer, James was sure of it.

@LordLinguinie

Jake Star, 27

Geokinetic / Alger, Washington

---

“The Ray will allow the US Government to properly prosecute criminals based not only on their sanity, health, and guilt, but now on blood status- to lock up the real criminals where they belong.”

"Good its about damn time they figured out a way to round up those damn freaks! Maybe now us good respectable people can sleep a little better at night!" An older drunk man half shouted at the television, his beer sloshing a little as he yelled.

"The only thing respectable about you Dan is the deodorant you actually remembered to wear today. Now keep it down before I have to cut you off." Called the bartender as he polished the same glass he had already polished three times in the past hour. The Hog's Horn Tavern, a little dive about 4 miles out of Alger, Washington, was even more dead then usual today. They had maybe seen three or four regulars, but Dan was the last one there, like always.

"Bah, I aint disturbin no one. Am I Jake?!" Dan called back into the kitchen, his words starting to slur just a little.

Jake stood in the back room, stooped over an empty fryer, his hands white from gripping the counter so hard. You're mask is slipping, calm down. He could feel it, even if he couldn't see his face. His face was a snarl as he was momentarily unable to fight down the building rage he felt in his stomach. The ray...THE RAY. And that obese disgrace of a woman was trying to sell it like it was a good thing?! Why the hell couldn't they just leave supers alone?!

Calm down Jake, you can't lose it here.

"Did you hear me Jake." Dan called his voice getting louder and turning into a full on shout.

Jake took a soothing breath. He had to relax, this was not the place to lose his cool. Losing his temper could be dangerous, and the normals expected him to act a certain way, he had to keep the act going. "My great grandmother can hear you Dan and shes been dead 30 years." Jake called from the back, forcing his casual smile back onto his face. He heard Dan Hmph indignantly and the bartender chuckle a little. Good, they hadn't seen his reaction.

Current crisis averted, Jake came out into the bar and grabbed a beer, popping the lid off with a twist, and sat and leaned against the bar. Dan wasn't going to order any food, so it would seem suspicious for Jake to keep hanging out in the back. A ray... A way for the government to hunt down and prosecute his kind. It wasn't bad enough that in order to live in his peace supers were forced to register and shove off to Alaska, now they would actively hunting them down? How would this work? Would they scan the whole population, or only scan those who suspected of being supers? The first option seemed like an extreme and difficult process, but who the hell could tell these days.

Agent Woods
Washington D.C.


@Blue2

When the woman he'd seen in the file picture came in, Alexander stood up and looked back at her. He had a few smart remarks for her, but these people had no sense of humour. Since he would be around this woman a lot in the near future he decided against any of those remarks at this time. She would be his boss for the coming time after all. He would end up pissing her off soon enough, he guessed. That was inevitable when they hated you for breathing air even before they ever met you and now was not the time to fight. A couple of years ago he would have chosen differently, but he'd learned to accept him place.

She intended to use him to get higher up. At least she didn't deny that. He preferred brutal honesty to gentle lies and she seemed like she would say exactly what was on her mind. Alexander bit his tongue and schooled his face to be as blank as he could muster. He folded his hands behind his back, taking on a stance that said he was no threath to her, just waiting for orders. He may not have a power he could use against normals, just being a super was enough to make them expect you to attack them with invisible forces anytime they turned their backs on him. Standing like this usually helped avoid aggression.

Alexander wondered how this day would turn out. He guessed they were already assigned a job, though he had no idea what that was. As his new boss, it was her job to brief him. Would she want to question him first or would she get on with it?

@Kidd

"I'll give you everything I have left and bet is one of them," James looked towards his neighbors with rage in his eyes...

His least favorite neighbor glared back...

"I was sleeping. There isn't a doubt in my mind someone did this. Who did it though, that's the question. If it's arson, the only two people that would have notice to do this is my ex wife Catherine and that guy over there," James pointed to Robert, watching his expression.

@LordLinguinie

Mario listened and watched as the man slowly built with rage as he confidently blamed his neighbor as the culprit of the blaze. It would take time for the actual arsonists to settle on an actual cause, and the investigation itself was not in Mario's job description, but still he listened intently to what the man had to say. He followed the man's glare to a man standing in the crowd, who stood out for the scowl on his face compared to everyone else's look of concern. The two men stared daggers at each other from across the caution tape and through the commotion of the police and firefighters. As the man continued on in anger, the investigators arrived to relieve Mario and to begin their own questioning. Mario left the back of the ambulance, looking back over the rubble of the man's home. What little remains of the house still stood were charred black.

As the emergency services slowly cleared out of the street and began send spectators away, Mario stepped away from the scene with Anders' permission, to have a smoke. Sitting on the sidewalk a few yards away from the parked firetrucks and cop cars, Mario took long a long first drag, feeling immediate stress relief as he exhaled. He couldn't buy his brand of cigarettes, Tareyton 100's, at just any conveience store nowadays, instead he had to drive half way across town to a small smoke shop on the north side of town. Mario stared blankly as the cleanup began around him. Mario thought about how quickly the man was to blame his neighbors, and how much anger there was in his face. It wasn't uncommon nowadays for normal's to push super's out of their community, it happened all the time, as the acceptance of supers felt like it was at an all time low. Thinking about the situation, Mario had no indicators the man was a victim of a hate crime, or even arson, only accusations and seething anger. But it was not long ago that Mario himself was in that same position for his own reasons, so he did not judge or condemn, only sit back and smoke and try to relax if only momentarily.

It was nearing the end of Jewel's shift when she was called into her supervisor's office and she frowned, wondering what she had done, using her gift was always a bit sketchy but it was usually easy to hide. She swallowed as she knocked and stepped inside the office brushing a stray hair from her cheek as she moved to sit down.

"Ah Jewel, I'm glad to see you!" she said with a smile as she pulled up a file on her computer and nodded "Yes, here it is, I recommended you for a hospital transfer sometime ago, our sister hospital in Washington State needs some nurses and I thought you would be perfect. They just sent me the letter confirming that they would like you to join them there. If you can leave soon, then that would be ideal, they sent tickets for you and have an apartment waiting until you get settled."

Jewel was stunned by the sudden news that they would be sending her farther way from her home but in her mind she knew it was probably a smart move, the farther away she was from DC the better it would be for her. "That is extremely sudden but I was starting to think that maybe it would be a good idea to move" She smiled as she said this and shook her head a little, she would miss her friends but in truth it was probably for the best and she knew she would need to start making plans. "Thank you ma'am, I'll leave first thing in the morning, after I talk to a friend about taking care of my house. She stood and shook the womans hand before she clocked out and headed home.

Jewel spoke with her friends and got her house taken care of, and enough clothes packed for a few weeks, knowing that her friends would send the rest of her things too her after she was settled in a house there. It wasn't long after she had left the hospital that she was on her way to Washington state. It was about the middle of the afternoon the next day when she finally arrived and at the large airport, having left her motorcyle behind for now she had to rent a car and was driving for a little while until she saw a little dive bar by the side of the road, "Hmm, the Hogs Horn Tavern, should be fun..." She pulled into the lot and headed inside rubbing her arms against the sudden chill, she was thankful she was used to the cold weather. "Hello" She called out not seeing anyone when she walked inside.

@CrabInATree

Michelle stared through the spreadsheet, her eyes unfocused on something far beyond the monitor. Maths was so dull and computers were dull, the two combined? Painfully so. She squeezed her eyelids tight shut, trying to summon forth the energy and concentration to unfuck the formula that put the departments costings at 19.436 quintillion dollars. She opened her eyes slowly, hoping the answer would reveal itself, but no such luck. She leaned back in her chair and looked around for inspiration, or a co-worker she could coarse into helping her. The office was quiet, not unusual for the time of day, and only a few people right across the room were still at their desks. No help. Michelle suppressed her desire to loudly vocalise her boredom and instead breathed deeply and studied her desk. It was a mess, paper work everywhere, desk tidy empty (because all her stationary was exactly where she needed it) and a stripey bobble hat covering the unnecessary number keys on the end of her keyboard.

A pencil leaned over the edge of the desk, threatening to fall off that particularly captured Michelle's attention. She wanted it to roll back. The pencil wiggled. Michelle tried to envision the pencil just gently rolling, and pencil wiggled harder, desperately trying to over come its hexagonal edges. "C'mon, almost there..." Michelle whispered, attempting to motivate the inanimate object. The pencil vibrated violently for a pencil but before completing a single rotation, dived undramatically off the desk. Michelle wasn't working anymore, it was time to go home. She unceremoniously swiped the paper work into the locking draw and picked up her hat, scarf and coat, leaving the pencil where it belonged. Michelle buzzed herself out and wished Gordon good night and best of luck to the Titans whom he watched religiously.

It was freezing outside, but the cold air didn't bother her nearly as much as the pencil did. When she was younger she could have made that pencil dance, she could have composed a strongly worded letter to the governor with it and only her mind, she could have maimed someone significantly with it at 50 paces. She wished she could be merely irritated, its not like she used her powers for anything important anymore, but it was honestly depressing, a craft she'd honed for years was gone. She was practically powerless these days, an unsuper Super, with all the risk and none of the reward. Michelle stewed, cross and bitter, in her Fiat 500 the rest of the way home.

Michelle barged into the flat, tossing her keys at the hook and her coat at its hook (with much more success) "There better be something good on telly, I'm not watching any more reruns of Big Bang Theory!" Michelle shouted from the hallway. When she'd finally finished disrobing her winter gear she kicked in the living room door.

“-mber thirtieth. Today is a wonderful day, but also a turn of history. It is with my pleasure to announce the conception of the Ray.”

Jake Star, 27

Geokinetic / Alger, Washington

---

Jake looked up in mild surprise as the door to the Hog's Horn Tavern and a young lady stepped through. The bar was slightly obscured to the side so she must have missed the three men as she called out hello. Jake wasn't that surprised, the bars set up was kind of a mess. When you first walked in all you saw were some tables and a old, slightly torn pool table. The bar itself was on the right side of the building, so when you first opened the door it was easy to miss.

What Jake was surprised to see, was that the young lady was not someone he actually recognized. She was tall for a woman, looked to be about his age, and had long curly hair that she had apparently died purple. Jake knew nearly every patron that graced this slum heap, and he was certain he would have remembered her if she had ever come here before.

"Over here Miss." Jake called, waving her over to the bar. As he looked over he saw Dan's drunk ass gawking, the old man didn't get out much. It was probably the hair, while Jake was always a fan of unique colors Dan was old fashioned. It could also have been the fact that a woman under the age of 50 had entered the bar but who could tell with Dan being this drunk.

Jake lightly thumped the older man on the side of the head. "Quit your staring staring you old fool its like you've never seen a woman before." Dan jumped slightly and glared at Jake over the comment but decided to turn his head and stop eyeballing the new comer.

The bartender waited for the woman to approach before setting down a coaster, a few stools away from Dan, and asking. "What can I get you young lady?"

@JewelProphet30

Jewel turned when she heard the voice call out and smiled when she saw the bar and a good looking guy waving her over, she smiled brightly a dimple appearing on her left cheek as she pulled her hair back in a loose tail and sat down. "Do you have Boulevard Wheat?" She asked as she smiled up at the bar tender and glanced over at the other man again, she wasn't going to lie to herself and say she wasn't attracted to him. "If not, a Bud will be fine and a cheeseburger and fries?" She said with a grin. She always surprised people when she went to eat with them, food was her friend, and she had always found that greasy spoons like this had the best burgers.

Jewel knew that she wasn't in the best of shape at the moment, having just thrown on some jeans and shirt after packing all her scrubs and essentials quickly and hoping on the plane, she was alos scared that she had gotten lost on the way to Alger. She had to check in at the hospital before going to the apartment they had waiting for her so she could crash. Tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear she looked up at the bartender and the other man as well, "I'm looking for Alger, I'm supposed to start work at the hospital there soon but I have to check in and let them know I arrived okay. Am I headed in the right direction?" She asked rubbing her arms a little to warm them up some more before pulling off her scarf and jacket, revealing pale skin with a tattoo peeking from the bottom of her shirt sleeve.

@CrabInATree

No.

Michelle stood petrified in the door frame. It was the stuff of nightmares. A garuanteed method of identifying Supers? It simply couldn't be true. The colour drained from her face. It was over before the battle had even begun. They'd already be rounding up Supers who'd had a blood test recently. Had I had a blood test recently? How recent would it have to be? What was the expiry date on blood? Was it already over for me? Her legs were shaking, she propped an arm on the door for support. Her housemates offered their concern by Michelle wasn't paying any attention any more, all she could hear was her heart thumping in her chest. Help. Michelle needed help, she needed answers and she needed to be back in the loop. It was time to make the call.

Michelle slunk back out into the rain and cold, the wind whipping at her as she struggled with buttons on her coat. She walked, she didn't even pick a direction, hoping she'd find a telephone box. It was tough walking on such weak legs, but the act of putting them one in front of the other made her feel atleast she was doing something. It wasn't long till she was rewarded, she hastily darted inside and picked up the receiver. Desperately ready to push change into slot, Michelle had a thought. Was she far enough from home that if the number was compromised and the number traced, would she'd be safe? Michelle hung up the receiver. She was being paranoid, she knew it, but it was impulses like these that kept her safe before, so it was best not to ignore them until she knew what was going on.

It would be an hour before Michelle found the next phone booth and it wouldn't offer as much privacy either, but she'd have to take the risk, she couldn't wait any longer. She slammed about four dollars in loose change in the machine, dialing the only number she'd ever need to remember.

...

The weather took a sharp turn for the worse. Rain turned to powdery, cutting snow and the wind blew harder and harder, threatening to blow in the plastic-glass walls of the phone booth. The angry howl of the wind reverberated in the quiet telephone receiver.

A couple dressed in bright, cheery colors strolled down the street, holding hands and clutching onto their now useless umbrellas. As they approached nearer the booth, the girl pointed at Michelle, leaning close to her husband and murmuring something. He stared at her as well, then they both started walking much more briskly, eager to put distance between themselves and her. The season’s generous and kind spirit, apparently, did not apply to everyone. It didn't matter now.

The phone gave a few beeps, indicating that the 'call' was over, and the dial time buzzed loudly in its wake. The display showed $3.00 remaining.

@ColouredCyan
(Edit: Saw the link this time!)

Agent Woods
Washington D.C.

@Blue2