GIFTS

My prompt for day nine was to use these words ; birch, salt, drip and wing for a scene.

What I loved about the ten day challenge was the time limit, to write. #10mins10days

Large tears of rain suddenly started falling, we knew it would rain when the skies had darkened from a distance and the darkness was slowly moving towards us. As we walked hurriedly from work towards the station, nobody stopped to chat, it was a swift wave at the regulars along the pavement. The newspaper seller looked disappointed as his customers totally ignored him, in their hurry to catch the train and dodge the rain.

The birch tree was shelter for many on rainy days. People would gather for a few minutes to avoid the rain, but today the ‘drip, drop’ of the rain pushed everybody towards a better shelter. 

The station master who normally greeted everyone in a loud butch voice was mute this evening. He had his work cut out. Moving the wet crowd along and keeping them moving. He had on a yellow raincoat that had wings. They looked like massive elephant ears, as he waved the wings moved. Actually, that helped him direct the passengers along. The rain continued falling heavily, causing puddles at the edge of the station floor. 

The floor tiles were getting muddy and slippery. The station master shouted to the guards: 

“Pass the salt!”

They all looked at each other.

“What would he be doing with that?” They smirked. 

He knew the salt would help make the floor less slippery. He poured batches of salt and spread it all over the edge, quickly.

That seemed to help keep his moving clients proceed quicker. Soon his job would be done. At the end of the rush hour, when he would take that heavy yellow plastic off and have a large cup of tea, for a well deserved break.