It began to rain at six-fifty-three, which Mike knew because he had checked the forecast update on his phone at six-forty-five and made a note.
It did not begin gradually. It began in the way that proper rain begins when it has had all afternoon to prepare, which is with the full commitment of something that had been building momentum and had no interest in easing in gently.
The drops were large and immediate, and the wind accelerated with them, and within ninety seconds of the first drop the lawn was no longer a comfortable place to be. The pavilion was already full, the kind of quickly full that happens when a space is too small for the number of people who have all reached the same conclusion at the same time.
Mike scanned the park. The tree line to the west is obviously not a shelter.
The pavilion was overcrowded. The groundskeeping cabin at the north end, which he had noted fifty minutes ago.
He was about to say something when his phone buzzed.
