Lullaby-Chapter 1

...Rain. It’s that dreary substance that falls from the sky in tiny drops or in massive sheets, depending on how much the cloud decides to release. Sometimes it stings people with its iciness on cold days or warms them on other days. The story begins on a gloomy day in late August. It was a steady rain; the droplets were warm and continued to pour throughout the entire day. Most people stayed indoors, except for the few who needed to run errands every so often. The weather was so bleak that it caused great irritation to certain individuals, one being Zim.
  
...He had diminished his supply of paste weeks ago due to the frequent number of thunderstorms in his area. Because there was none left, he hadn’t gone to school in several weeks. He realized Dib would become very suspicious if he didn’t return soon. Earlier Gir had suggested Zim should make his own paste. It would have been perfect if Gir had not said, “Water and flour makes paste! I saw that on TV once!” The problem wasn’t how Zim would mix the two substances without burning his skin. He just didn’t have the flour. The only way to get some would require him to go out into the rain. A loophole wasn’t what Zim had in mind. And he certainly couldn’t trust Gir to buy flour for him. He would just have to wait it out. He would be waiting for a long time.

...During the time Zim would be waiting, Dib would be compiling information dealing with the most powerful of sleeping gels.