After The Downpour

Joan stepped out the back door, feeling the humidity cling to her skin. The rain had not cooled things down at all, and it felt steamy. A rich aroma rose from the moistened soil of the garden, an earthy smell Joan could never decide if she liked. It mingled with the perfume of flowers and the scent of cat pee wafting from the neighbour’s yard. Some kind of shrub that smelled that way when it got wet. So the neighbour claimed. But she had several cats. Joan brushed water droplets off the chair on the deck, settling in for cigarette.