She never had been much for doughnuts. Sophie much preferred any kind of delectable chocolate confection to the light-as-air, glazed creations. Still, it irked her to come downstairs that morning and find that the last doughnut had disappeared from the package. Sophie muttered to herself something about how her husband must have had quite the midnight snack.

Still grumbling, Sophie rummaged through the cupboard. Snagging a granola bar, she gave a little yelp when she glanced at the clock. In ten minutes, she had consumed the bar, brushed her teeth and her hair, and donned her shoes.

She stumbled out the door.

Boom!

Sophie fumbled with her keys as the thunder filled her heart with dread.

Crack!

The crack of lightning lit up the sky like New Year’s. Sophie tossed her bag lunch and her purse inside her car.

Whoosh!

The downpour began just as Sophie slammed the car door after herself. She released a sigh. She had escaped the rain.

It was then that she noticed her window was open.

Raindrops splattered mercilessly on her tan pants and crisp blue blouse.

Rolling up the window, Sophie stifled a groan.

The rest of her day was even worse. The fact that no one had let Sophie in on the Interstate having been converted into a parking lot caused her to be late for work. The paperwork on her desk was taller than her. The rain continued all day long, preventing her from taking her lunch outside to the park behind the office like she usually did, which meant no leisurely reprieve, which Sophie so looked forward to in the afternoons.

And the icing on the cake?

Sophie opened the paper bag that contained her lunch around one. She had packed it the night before along with her son Tyler’s school lunch. But in her haste that morning, she had mistaken Tyler’s bag for hers.

She was greeted with the sight of ham and cheese on white, a bag of carrots, and two sugar cookies.

Sophie let her head drop back. Somewhere across town, a little boy was probably enraged to find tuna on rye, low-fat yogurt, and an apple.

Sophie turned into the driveway that evening and rested her forehead on the wheel.

“It’s been one of those days, Lord,” she whispered.

When she glanced up, it was to find the rain had finally ceased, and the clouds had pulled away to reveal a beautiful sunset. A colorful rainbow arching across the sky completed the breathtaking picture.

Sophie smiled.

“Great is your love, O Lord!”

And she kept smiling even after Tyler told her how much he had spent on a cafeteria lunch.

Copyright © by Rachelle Rea Share

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