First rain
As she worked through the garden, Beth kept thinking about the story that the matron had told her a few hours ago. That was her only company as she pushed through the night. The sun had fallen into slumber and the stars were hiding behind a curtain of clouds, laughing at her as she kept on tilling the ground to overturn the roots of the stubborn weeds.
Her hands were aching, and so were her feet. But at least she had cleared most of the ground. What she had thought was impossible was becoming the reality as midnight approached. Apart from the faint light of the half-moon peeking through the dark clouds and the few lanterns hung around the garden's boundary, darkness encompassed her surroundings.