The Pluviophile

By Nicole Givens Kurtz

In the post-apocalyptic Southwestern desert, the only thing more dangerous than Simone's search for a rain-bringer might be the hope of finding one.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Black Cat Weekly
• Release date: Jan 21, 2023
• ISBN: 9781479466986

Book preview

Table of Contents

THE PLUVIOPHILE, by Nicole Givens Kurtz

COPYRIGHT INFORMATION

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 6

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

THE PLUVIOPHILE,

by Nicole Givens Kurtz

COPYRIGHT INFORMATION

Copyright © 2019 by Nicole Givens Kurtz.

Originally published in Sister of the Wild Sage: A Weird Wetern Collection.

Published by Wildside Press LLC.

wildsidepress.com | bcmystery.com | blackcatweekly.com

CHAPTER 1

Pluviophile—lover of rain; someone who finds joy and peace of mind during rainy days.

Dirt and debris littered the baked asphalt as Interstate 40 cradled empty cars that shimmered in the harsh, high sunlight. Simone Carter searched the abandoned highway through the adobe’s cracked and sullied screen window. Eddies skipped along cracked concrete and spun in dizzying array like quarreling lovers. Forgotten skyscrapers, apartment buildings, and progress faded from the scorching sun’s brutal, decade-long assault. Death spread across the land, even as far as the suburbs of Rio Rancho, bleaching everything with it.

Almost everything. Simone hoped for the discovery of a pluviophile. As her momma used to say, hope hurt.

When you get old, like me, you become invisible, Elise mumbled to Simone, drawing her back from her musings and away from the dancing whirls of sand blowing about the streets.

Elise’s weathered skin crinkled like leather when she smiled. Gray hair streaked, like lightning in a dark sky, her mass of ebony hair. Even inside, the elder woman wore boxy sunglasses over her glasses. The sun’s glare shone from car windows and reflected like beacons from their mirrors.

You ain’t invisible, Miss Elise. If you were, I wouldn’t bring you the water. I wouldn’t waste it. Simone squeezed the elder woman’s shoulder, feeling her skinny bones beneath the frail blouse. Oh, and like always, Spyder said to use it like it ain’t gonna last.

Miss Elise stood at the edge of the once-revolving door and nodded. Forever stuck by the baked grit and grime, the door led into a once-thriving office building. Now, only a few people populated the one-story abode. Vegetation and animals sought shelter and found solace there. Nature began to retake the remnants of civilization, propelled in desperation by the last trickles of water. Their roots traveled farther and deeper so that they might live, plowing deep into the cracked upper layers to the moisture buried below.

Simone heard all these things about old age before. She put down the two vats of water onto Elise’s porch, and picked up what was left of her patience. The blazing heat fried her nerves and usually turned patience to ash. The wind had gone still. Only the arid heat remained. The water deliveries came at night, but lately Thirsters had been pillaging this section of town. So, Simone had come to bring Elise’s