It splashes as it thunders down the stone paved bath, the black road to a greyer place that is as much new as it is familiar. The rain slashes my cheeks with a will similar to a knife's, but I continue the journey into the storm. Wind howls and rages in the city around me. The city's lights are dulled but still bright in the gloom and every person who runs by me wonders how I can be bare foot.