• Mimi had never minded a rainy day - getting wet didn't bother her as much as it did some. So when she woke to hear the patter of rain on her tiny roof, Mimi smiled instead of groaning.

    There had been rain in the dream world, but it was different there. The rain fell around you, providing atmosphere without getting anyone wet. No Dreamer was ever too cold, too hot or uncomfortable.

    Mimi remembered that, despite the seven years that had passed since she had last even visited. That was why she so relished the heat of the sun, the chill of the winter, and the cool softness of the grass.

    But what she loved most was a day like this one: A warm day with a heavy fall. She pushed aside her blankets and got to her feet. Walking to the window, she pulled aside the old curtain. She took one look outside and laughed for sheer joy.

    Not even bothering to change, Mimi ran barefoot out the door and into the rain.

    She closed her eyes as it fell, soaking her hair and her pajamas, stroking her skin like the tickles of a thousand tiny fairies. It was the most beautiful thing she'd ever felt, and she never got tired of it.

    When she had slipped out of the Dream World to explore Earth for the first time, it had been raining. Shocked and entranced, she had stood for an hour in the storm. The feel of the rain on her skin had stayed in her mind even when she returned to the Dream World, drawing her back to Earth time after time. Eventually, she had realized she could no longer live in the empty, insubstantial world of dreams, and left her old world and her old life behind.

    Her eyes popped open at the boom of thunder, drawing her out of her memories. Storms occured seldom in the town she lived in, and she'd never gotten to really see one. Electricity gathered in the air, saturating everything and making Mimi catch her breath. The rain pounded harder, flooding the street and the air until Mimi could hardly see.

    A thrill raced up her spine, as if the lightening was inside as well as all around her. A grin spread across her face, and after a moment she was racing across the feild.

    The storm flashed and boomed around her as she stood, eyes to the sky. Mimi knew that if the lightning should hit her, she would be killed even before she could summon something to defend her. She'd never been so awestruck and afraid; she'd never felt so alive.

    After an eternity and far too little time, the storm began to fade. The lightning and thunder moved away, the rain began to lessen. Mimi could hear herself think again.

    With a last, distant crack, the rain stopped.