Oscar stared out at the rain, hitting the pavement so hard that there seemed to be a wave of splashes up to the pedestrians’ knees. He wanted to be out there, bathing in Nature’s rinse cycle. He had loved to run in the rain until he was out of breath and then stand, arms outstretched, face to the heavens and let the falling drops drench him and wash him clean.

He turned away from the window, and gripping the wheels on his chair he propelled himself back to the computer. With home-help and a better chair and indoor modifications to pay for there was no way to blow work off and go out in the rain; besides Annie would have a fit. He had to show her, somehow, that he was not made of glass just because of the accident – that going out in the rain would be almost as joyful as it had always been. That having to dry out a wheelchair as well as his clothes was not really a terrible disaster.

He keyed the computer back to life and logged into the server.

“Back to the accounts!”, he thought to himself. He smiled.