Stella Pike's life has always been pretty dull, as life in a small town can be. She's been going steady with her high school sweetheart for years and has even landed herself a steady job at the gas station just down the road from her parents' home. Everything is normal, verging on desperately dull, until one night... Earlier in the day, there'd been a short thunder snowstorm. Stella had seen part of the lightning show as she'd driven in for her shift. Now there was just light, fluffy snow falling in delicate, individual flakes. In the light from the street lamps that were just humming into life, the snow looked like gently falling glitter. For a moment, the clerk stood by the windows that completely made up one of the walls of the store, staring out into the night. Something hit the side door and made her jump, a muted shriek escaping her lips.