The Magical Raincoat

Free for All

"So, it's true. There's more than one?"

Frank wrapped their arms around themself as a sort of protective shield from the eyes that had turned their way. They stared right at Julie, though, ignoring the other two she was with.

"Oh, yeah! Isn't it amazing?" Julie spun, the jacket in her hands and her dress flaring out like the flowers they were meant to resemble. Frank was almost grateful she wasn't wearing the jacket. "I take it you saw Eddie's, then? I'm not sure how he got one, but it's real neat looking!"

"I don't like it, actually," Frank said bluntly. When the eyes on him just stopped and widened, he corrected himself with a clearing of his throat. "I mean, it looks nice, plain and sophisticated for his job, but the magic is what worries me."

Wally nodded. "The magic worried me at first, too."

"But we're being real careful!" Julie interrupted. "No more weather shenanigans, not right now, at least. I still feel bad for scaring Poppy."

Before Frank had a moment to ask, Julie shoved her coat at Frank, wanting to see what the coat thought of her best friend's personality. It buzzed and shimmered, then turned to the sky blue coat with butterflies, a surprise to all. Frank's cheeks flushed.

"Weather shenanigans? What weather shenanigans?!" they asked, trying to return the coat to Julie, but she refused to take it. "Guys!"

"Look, just try it on and see for yourself!" Julie pressed, her hands keeping the coat locked within Frank's fingers.

Sally and Wally looked at one another, and Sally took the reigns to speak. "Are you sure that's a good idea? To give the grumpiest one control of the entire neighbourhood's weather?!"

"It can't be much worse than earlier. Poppy's inside, and so is everyone else; it'll be fine!"

"Julie, I don't--" Wally started but was cut off by a sharp look from the monster. His smile flattened to one of resignation, raising his hands in front of him. "Okay."

Even with the pleas for Frank not to do it, he couldn't resist his best friend for long, finally giving in with a warble and a "Fine!"

He swung the coat around and put his arms through the holes like he would any other coat and waited.

Frank's eyes widened, and they stuck their arms out to their sides. "Nothing's even happening! Colour-changing, maybe, but magic? You all got me worried for--"

The air around Frank grew cold, and everyone's eyes shot above him, his own immediately following.

Just above his head, there was a small grey rain cloud forming, nothing like anyone had ever seen before so closely.

"That's new," Sally muttered, everyone nodding in agreement at the strange circumstances.

He flinched as a droplet of water hit his face, then another, and more. He started wiping them away frantically with his hands.

"Hm, Frank? You should probably take it off now." Julie said, waving at him.

Frank heard her, but as soon as he'd accepted the rain, he was mesmerised.

Frank was one of the only neighbours who actually liked rain; sure, it prevented their butterfly studies, but if they weren't playing some sort of low piano music while they read or studied, then they were listening to rain sounds, and what better than the real thing the odd time the neighbourhood was anything but sunny and happy?

The rain was slow but heavy as it came down on Frank. Sally and Julie had stepped back from the downpour, already damp enough from their first bout of this, but Wally stepped closer, almost seeming to want to stop Frank but hesitating.

"Wally, do something!" Julie called.

"He can hear us. He's just not listening," Wally said softly, taking another step closer. Frank looked down at him and took a step back, their unibrow creasing in anger.

"Hey! Back off!"

Sally and Julie shared the same blank look, which then morphed into worry for Julie. "Frank?" She too stepped forward, but Frank kept backing away.

The rain cloud over his head started getting bigger, the fascination in Frank's eyes only growing. He started to turn to get away but tripped on a loose shoelace and went tumbling to the wet grass. He tried to get up, but Julie ran in front of him, not caring if she was getting wet again by the ever-growing cloud.

"I don't think these are such a good idea anymore. There's probably a reason they were hidden when you and Eddie found them," Sally reasoned to Wally as Julie tried to calm Frank down before they started panicking too badly and making the rain worse. They refused to take it off, earning Sally's sympathy at their hard-to-express emotions, while Wally stared at the interaction in confusion. "We should put them somewhere safe."

"You're not usually the type to suggest that, Sally." Wally glanced at her. "I thought you wanted to use it for your show?"

Sally met Wally's eyes, hers hard set as her cheeks glowed in barely bottled anger. "I have thoughts not about myself sometimes, you know. We could hurt someone!"

"It's okay, Frank. You're not hurting anyone." Julie glared at the interaction within earshot of them. "Keep it down, you two! I'm taking Frank home. See you guys later."

She stood and pulled Frank with her glad he was light enough to do so without much struggle, and started leading him back to his and Eddie's yellow house. "Eddie should be finishing work soon..." he mumbled.

"I know, Frank."

Wally watched them leave with a tilted head, then toppled to the ground like a ragdoll at a shove from Sally. "What was that for?" he asked, same calm tone as usual. Sally made a disgusted face.

"I'd hate to know what kind of weather your mind would make up." She walked away after Julie and Frank, an apology on her tongue, leaving Wally lying on the ground without a care in the world.

And Wally stayed there, in the wet grass, waiting for any of his neighbours to walk by and help him up. He was lucky when it was his best friend who stepped on by and scooped him up before continuing on his way.