Then I saw it: a single flash of neon pink in a doorway.

I was walking fast, head down, avoiding the cracks where water pooled like liquid silver. The street was emptying. Shops were pulling down their iron grates with a sound like chain mail. Tourists had fled. Even the dogs looked bored.

I walked past. The flash faded. Church Street went back to its evening routine—damp, quiet, a little lonely.

The rain had just stopped. That’s the first thing you notice on Church Street after a storm—the smell. Wet granite, old incense, and the faint sweet rot of marigolds from the vendor on the corner.

Not a sign. Not a reflection.