The park bench was cold and hard against him.  The chill seeped through his woolen coat and the layers of clothes underneath and leeched deep inside him.  His body was tense, too tense even to shiver.  The wool itched him on the few spots it touched his bare skin: his neck, the spots on his wrists that his gloves were too short to cover.
 

The bench was by the side of a blacktopped path which led through a sparsely wooded area.  The bank of a frozen lake lay on the opposite side of the path, visible through an opening in the trees .  The lake stretched away into the foggy distance.  A small, tree-covered island lay near the center of the lake, and a few lonely seagulls sat on the surface of the ice nearby. 
 

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The rain fell hard and fast, a solid curtain which the car sliced through.  Driving at night was difficult enough already, requiring concentration and attention that was not needed in the daylight.  The weather made it worse.
 

Bright lights everywhere pierced the gloom.  Headlights and tail lights of the other vehicles, traffic lights and street lights, lighted store signs:  their brightness shone through the rain and reflected off the raindrops, making it all but impossible to see the slick road in the dark.
 

The rain pounded on the roof of the car, a sound which faded into the background of attention but was impossible to ignore.  The radio could have drowned it out if it were turned up loud, but that would distract from the effort of driving in its own way.
 

The tires slipped, and the car lurched to the side briefly, but luckily the next lane over was empty.  The next traffic light up ahead changed from green to yellow and then to red more quickly than it should have.  The car cruised through the red light before there was a chance to apply the brakes.
 

The man behind the wheel took a deep breath and sighed quietly, but he didn’t take his eyes off the road.