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The rain didn't fall so much as it bruised the city, turning the neon signs into watercolor smears against the asphalt. I stood under the rusted awning of the corner store, watching a stray dog try to make sense of a discarded umbrella. It was the kind of night that made you realize the silence between streetlights was louder than the traffic. I checked my pockets for a cigarette, found only a receipt from three weeks ago, and decided that was enough of a plot for one evening.