WEBVTT

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The rain tapped a steady, hypnotic rhythm against

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the glass,

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blurring the neon arteries of the city far

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below into streaks of amber and ruby.

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Inside, the world shrank to the comforting radius

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of a single reading lamp,

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casting a golden halo across the worn leather

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of the armchair

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and the dust motes dancing in the quiet

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air.

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Balthaser sat motionless on the wide wooden windowsill,

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his obsidian fur catching the amber glow from

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the room.

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Every individual whisker trembled slightly as a particularly

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harsh gust of wind

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drove a sheet of water against the pane.

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Outside, commuters hurried like dark, hurried ants under

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a canopy of bobbing umbrellas,

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entirely missing the magic of the evening.

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But Balthaser was a connoisseur of rainy nights.

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He lifted a soft, dark paw and pressed

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it lightly against the cool glass,

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tracing the path of a fat raindrop as

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it raced downward.

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Inside the glass, his own emerald -eyed reflection

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stared back at him,

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superimposed against the distant, shimmering chaos of the

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metropolis.

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The contrast between the cold, wet storm outside

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and the sanctuary of the warm room made

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his low,

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rumbling purr -vibrate deep in his chest.

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With a slow, deliberate stretch, the cat curled

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his tail neatly around his paws

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and settled in for the long night, turning

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his back on the restless city to guard

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the warmth within.