The Umbrella Boy

Rain

Rain. There was a ton of it and it happened so suddenly. If you were lucky that day; you had a car as your mode of transportation. And if you were extremely lucky; you decided to carry your umbrella on that beautifully sunny day when there was no forecast whatsoever of a storm.

The unfortunate suckers on the sidewalk who were without either of the two aforementioned assets were brutally sprayed with cold pavement water from under the tyres of passing vehicles.

One of those unfortunate suckers -- the only unfortunate sucker -- hurried down the gloomy sidewalk with her arms wrapped around her torso, holding up a grocery bag that was tucked safely under her soaked orange hoodie. Black bangs peeked out from under her hood and stuck to her wet forehead; grey sweatpants clung to her legs; the rain found its way into her green Crocs -- yes, she was wearing Crocs -- and every step she took have off a loud squelch.

The girl in the orange hoodie was cold, wet, and just wanted to get home with her bags of crisps -- among other essentials -- and ration them so they can last.

Mum's gonna kill me, she thought. 'Six large packets of crisps' was not on the shopping list her mum gave her, but they were on Special and she couldn't resist. Specials can be very persuasive, especially if they are a three-for-the-price-of-one, large packet of crisps --

She was instantly showered with ice cold, pavement water -- obviously the work of a speeding car. The wetness penetrated every single piece of already-wet clothing on her body and chilled her skin. Orange-hoodie girl just stood there with her eyes shut tight willing all the cold and anger away. Be cool... Be cool... screw it, I'm cold! With her eyes still closed and her nose starting to run, she hopelessly focused on the sound of the rain -- waiting for ideas to materialise in her mind while simultaneously scolding herself for risking it and coming out of her room for that glass of water.

The grocery bag she held under her hoodie was most likely wet by now as the girl continued on contemplating her life.

What does rain taste like? She lifted her face up towards the sky  and felt fat droplets attack her skin, then stream down her face like tears. Hesitantly, she poked her tongue out. Heavy, wet sacs bulleted down onto her tongue and  broke on impact. It tasted nothing like the chlorinated water from a kitchen tap. It was more earthy and... fresh.

"Elaine?" A deep voice cut through orange-hoodie girl's thoughts.

"Holy mother of...!" Unfortunately, she didn't finish her sentence because she had stumbled back from shock and ended up slipping on a puddle. Her buttocks met the wet, hard sidewalk. The girl's orange hood had slipped of during the descent and now her whole head felt the full, unrelenting force of the rain.

"Go away," Orange-hoodie girl sniffed, she lay down on her back  on the sidewalk and faced the sky as it unleashed every water molecule it had. "Be gone, human!" She gestured for the person to leave. She couldn't be bothered to address the person  and so she closed her eyes again.

The droplets assaulted Orange-hoodie girl's face and she felt every individual drop. She imagined her face having millions of tiny red bruises by the time she went home...

The rain stopped? Suddenly she couldn't feel a single molecule bullet down onto her face. She scrunched her face in confusion, then cracked open an eye and peeked at the... pink material with wires shooting out from a pole?

"Hey Elaine," the deep voice spoke again, "you looked like you needed an umbrella." The person looked like he was holding back a laugh... or a fart. One of his busy eyebrows twitched up, his lips were pressed into a thin line, and  his nose was scrunched up. She studied his face while still flat on the sidewalk.

"How'd you know my name? And what makes you think you can go around holding pink umbrellas over people. I don't even know you, guy," Elaine scoffed and immediately stood up on her numb feet causing a variety of food and toiletries to tumble out of her hoodie and onto the sidewalk.

"No, no. No!" She fell to her knees and scrambled to pick the fallen items.

I should probably just give her the umbrella and leave...those stuff look private, the boy thought frantically. He surprised himself and Elaine as well by bending down and picking up a dented carton of orange juice, then toilet paper, then an asparagus...

Elaine watched him cautiously as he helped pick up the scattered items. When both their arms were full, the umbrella boy looked Elaine dead in the eye and said: "Just to be clear, the pink Peppa Pig umbrella is not mine, it's my sister's."