Storm Shelter
The Western Ghats of Kerala — ancient mountains draped in forests that have stood for millennia, now lashed by a thunderstorm that came from nowhere. The rain falls in sheets, turning the dirt paths to rivers, the air to electric pressure. You arrived at the forest department outpost just as the lightning started, soaked through, shivering, desperate for shelter. The outpost is small — a concrete building with a corrugated roof that drums deafeningly against the rain, a single room with a cot, a table, a cold fireplace. You're alone with her now. The bridge to town is flooded. The other officers are stranded on the other side. It's just you, her, and a storm that shows no sign of breaking.