Burned water [completed]

1 - Cursed umbrella

Rain beats on the window and I fill the silence with the song Rain by BTS. Recently, the temperature outside has dropped, and downpours are becoming more frequent. Signs of summer inevitably coming to an end.

I recently came back from work. It was already dark outside. My only window has no curtains, so I don't turn on the light to change out of my uniform. I pull my blouse over my head and look outside. I flinch, instinctively covering my bra with the t-shirt I'm holding. Through the window, I see a figure standing in the rain on the other side of the street. There are no trees or other shelter along the sidewalk, so whoever it is must be soaked to the skin. I look further and see pedestrians running past and cars passing by. The figure is still standing there, having only moved deeper into the sidewalk so that the water sprayed by the cars would not reach it.

I finally tear my eyes away from the mysterious person and change into a sweater from the closet. Finally, I turn on the light and put the kettle on. While waiting for the water to boil, I sit on the windowsill to watch the city's nightlife. But this time again, instead of my eyes wandering from point to point, I stare constantly at that one person. Maybe he's waiting for someone, maybe he missed the bus. Who knows how long he'll have to stand like that, even though it's cold and pouring outside. I took the umbrella and went outside.

A very cold wind blew into my face as I walked down the sidewalk towards him. As I got closer, I was sure it was a man. It didn't help that he was dressed in dark colors. Warnings about shady guys, thieves, murderers, rapists rang in my head, and my pepper spray lay peacefully on a shelf in my apartment. I looked around to see if there were any other people nearby and once I was sure I wasn't alone, I got completely close.

'Mmm... sorry... maybe you need an umbrella?' I asked rather clumsily and senselessly, holding out my hand with the said object.

The man looked at me with surprise in his eyes.

'I live here' I pointed to my window. 'I saw you standing here for a long time and getting wet' I hurried to explain so that he wouldn't think I was crazy and dangerous.

He muttered something that I didn't quite understand, took the umbrella and opened it. Then disaster happened, and I regretted that 'burning with shame' was only a metaphor. My poor old umbrella must have breathed its last, the last screw holding the mechanism must have come loose, because the frame fell apart and the whole thing was unusable. And certainly not to protect against the mercilessly falling rain. The redness of my face probably meant that every drop that fell on me evaporated immediately. I started moaning incoherent words and making vague gestures, trying to make it clear that it was an accident, bad luck, and not a slightly funny joke.

He handed the inanimate object back to me with obvious amusement. That's when this whole story began. In accordance with my saving intentions and sense of duty, I asked:'Do you want to wait in my apartment?'