14th Street glowed beneath him like hot embers, and a sea of dark-windowed stalagmites rose from its warmth. In late April, they were experiencing a cold chill brought on by a two-day-long rain that never ceased. Now, the air had that glorious, post-rain smell to it and the streets glistened with the reflection of the night sky. For a period it was quiet, before a car horn in the distance cracked it like a pane of glass.