Raine stood outside in red flannel pj's staring up into the night sky, a long strand of grassing hanging from the side of her mouth. She chewed on it unconsciously, watching one meteor after another shoot across the darkened sky. The weather lady on the news said that there would be an amazing meteor shower to watch later on that night, but she never imagined anything like this.
Pushing a strand of long black hair behind her ear, she continued to count the number of meteors that zoomed past her at incredible speeds. So far she was up to one hundred and forty-six and she had only been outside for less than fifteen minutes. She couldn't believe it. In all her life she had never seen anything like this before. The Vermont skies at night were always crystal clear, but tonight, the sky seemed to shine with a clarity that was unnatural. She turned her head slowly towards her house, keeping her eyes planted firmly on the sky above her and called out to the figure standing in the kitchen slicing up a Frescettas pizza. “Hey Dad you’ve gotta see this!! Come out here and check this out!!” She heard a muffled “Okay!” come from the kitchen and turned her head back towards the sky, continuing to count the myriad of meteors skimming across the atmosphere.
After sliding the screen door shut behind him, Roland “Magnus” Washington strolled across the yard towards his daughter, a giant smile on his face. He was a big man, dark skinned with short, crew-cut black hair and a body as big as any professional bodybuilder. The summer air outside was warm so he was dressed only in a black t-shirt tucked into a pair of jeans. Although older now, and way too out of shape for his own liking, he was still a formidable presence. As a youth he would compete in the Worlds Strongest Man competitions held around the world. Although he never placed first, he always gave the other guys a run for their money.
When he decided to retire from competing against the stronger, and much younger guys, he took the winnings he had accumulated over the years and made a ton of money investing in Apple computers and Sony Entertainment. With a chunk of the money he made he sunk it into building the dream house he had always wanted in the quiet, dreamy hills of Vermont. The house was enormous, much too grand for a man such as Roland. But with nothing but time on his hands, he kept adding on to it. The entire project had cost him $235,000 and the tip of the index finger on his right hand. But to him, it was all worth it.
With that done, Roland had sat down on his back porch with a Heineken, looked around at the beautiful view of the lake, the trees, the boats sailing by, the people walking aimlessly along the beach with some purpose he would never know and wondered what to do next. He was a happy man, but he was never content to settle. He had been married once, but his aggressive need to compete drove her away. He regretted it, but in some small way he was relieved by it. He didn’t want to be tied down with a wife and a family. He wanted to travel, to wander the planet in search of the next great challenge. That was, until the day he found Raine Weaver.
Abandoned by her parents as an infant, she had been pushed from one foster family to the next with little regard for her own welfare. The families she stayed with were horrible, scum of the earth people that Roland would have strangled had he met them. But Roland was a kind, caring person that would never hurt a fly unless he was pushed to do so. Raine often teased him about that, which Roland found hilarious. He enjoyed finding the irony in life and so did she.
But the day Roland found the little girl who was no older than nine years old at the time being attacked by two greasy muggers was anything but funny.
After a long day in Boston, listening to the droning voice of his broker go on and on about his stock portfolio, Roland was running to catch the last train to leave the station for the night, when he heard a scream and stopped dead in his tracks. He paused, trying to figure out where the noise came from and heard another scream coming from the the long dark corridor to his left. Forgetting about the train that was already speeding away from the station platform, he bolted down the corridor, heedless of his own well being and jumped onto the first of the two attackers. He was a small, scrawny guy with a blue ballcap on his head. Thinking back, that’s the only detail Roland can remember about the guy other than the massive amount of blood that exploded from his face when Roland slammed his enormous fist into it. That guy went down like a ton of bricks and didn’t move after that. The other guy, surprised and probably a little fucked up on something, turned towards Roland with an eight-inch knife in his hand and tried to look as threatening as possible. But the terrified expression that shot across his face when he saw the seven foot tall giant lumbering towards him with eyes as red and angry as a bull was anything but hostile. He dropped the knife and ran as quickly as possible in the opposite direction. Roland began to go after him, but he stopped when he heard the little girl crying on the ground next to him.
Bending down, his anger quickly gave way to compassion as he stared at the little ball of clothes shaking in the corner. She was so tiny, so fragile sitting there with her head tucked between her knees. Although he never had any, Roland had always been really good with kids. He talked to her softly, convincing her that he was one of the good guys. That he was here to help her, not hurt her. It took ten minutes of him talking to her before she finally lifted her head out from between her knees and looked at him. Rolands heart broke as soon as he saw the tears rolling down her cheeks and the sad look in those pale green eyes and knew from that moment that he had done more than saved her from two despicable muggers. He would save this girls life by taking her off the streets and giving her a normal life.
It took a long time to finally gain the girls trust, but Roland was a patient man. And besides, he enjoyed the challenge. And this little girl certainly started off as just that. She had been thrown around in life so much that she didn’t know how to act around people. She did things to get into trouble on purpose, which Roland figured was a natural reaction to being around people her entire life without the benefit of love or affection. She didn’t know how to be loved and forcing people away by acting out all but guaranteed that nobody would ever get close to her. It made Roland sad to think that a girl starting out in life already had a bitter and misguided outlook on it.
After a year of going to the orphanage everyday to see her and gaining the girls trust in a way she had never experienced before, he asked her if she was willing to come live with him for awhile, just to try it out. He had already shown her plenty of pictures of his house and made jokes that it was way too big, even for him. When he asked her, she seemed to drift away into that place inside her head where she questioned the motives of anybody that showed any interest in her as a person, rather than a paycheck. Which is what most of the foster families she lived with gained from her staying with them. Roland watched her, knowing what she must be thinking; can I trust this person?? Roland knew in his heart that the girl had been through a lot and left her at the orphanage telling her to think about it, no pressure. She could make up her mind either way and he would be okay with whatever she decided. Even though he knew he would be completely heartbroken if she said no. Roland didn’t know when or how it happened, but he thought of this little ten year old girl as his daughter.
So when he went to see Raine the next day and she had her bags packed and ready to go live with him, he couldn’t help but jump for joy. He was so happy he could barely contain himself, but he tried his best. He never anticipated sharing his house with anyone, especially a little kid. But here he was, welcoming this child into his house, giving her the grand tour starting from the Billiard room all the way through to her own personal bedroom and telling her to make herself at home. He couldn’t believe it. Even to this day, after years of getting closer to Raine and watching her grow, he couldn’t grasp the fact that he was now, in many ways, a Dad. Irony, once again, had a way of amusing him.

Strolling across the lawn he watched Raine stare up into the sky with the same look he had seen in her eyes when she was that lost little nine year old girl he found in the train station years ago. He gently placed an arm around her shoulder and gave her a giant hug, which she jokingly tried to pry away from. Raine, now sixteen, cast him a sideways glance and smiled as he plucked the piece of grass from her mouth and stuck it in his own and began to chew on it.
“You’re gross.” She said, turning her eyes back towards the sky.
“No, I’m Magnus: the world famous strongman.” His deep, baritone voice seemed to echo across the yard. He gave her a little push and a kick on the bum to emphasize the point.
Normally she would fight back, but she was transfixed by the light show playing out in front of her eyes. "Dad, it's beautiful, isn't it? i mean, look at all of the meteors shooting across the sky one after another. I've never seen anything like this before, have you??"
Roland turned his eyes away from the girl and looked at the night sky above him. He could feel a cool summer breeze blowing in from the lake to his right. The air had a fresh, clean quality to it that he inhaled deeply. "It's amazing." He agreed, putting an arm around the girl again. This time she didn't shake it off.