(Mar 16') Prompt #3 - Holes in My Umbrella

[Naraness]

March's 3rd prompt is the word: Holes in My Umbrella



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[m139]

There are holes in my umbrella. The fabric has become unattached from the frame on almost half of it. Yet I still keep it. You are probably asking why I would still keep junk like this. After all, no one else would keep a broken umbrella. No one else would keep anything even resembling an umbrella, not in this day and age. "Weak," they would say, "A clinger to the past. Why doesn't she catch up to the times?"

No one uses umbrellas anymore, at least not like the ones they used to have before the war. I mean, most production of them stopped sometime within the third year of the war, and after the war- well, good for you if you still had all the resources to make an umbrella, and actually could make a facility to make them in. But as to making an umbrella even a possibility- ha! As if! No one would have all the raw materials and a place to make them. I mean, it's hard enough even to make a recycled plastic cup. And goodness knows I do not have one of those. I still have a couple from the old days though. Back before the war even started.

How different life was then. And yet, how similar the times are. People- so different throughout the centuries and yet, all human. All able to do great, amazing things, and all able to do great, great evil. So it is in this day and age, and so it was in the last. Even if people are forgetting what happened.

It is a shame they forget. And it is a greater shame too that some deny. Do they not realize that if they do such things, they are opening up the world to the same mistakes that have already been made? Things should push forward, like time. They should not forever be going around in circles, doing the same things over and over again. There is no time for that. We all must die someday, some sooner than later. Who knows how much time each of us have left?

I remember, back in the days, when I was still in school. I remember when the college I was in was blown to rubble. I happened to be off campus that day, skipping a couple of classes to be with my family after my uncle had died. Funerals, or at least services to commemorate one, were quite common then. And I remember hearing the news. And I remember calling all of my friends afterwards. None of them answered.

That day, I was struck with the reality of life. Sure, others had died, but no one I was that close to had died. Yes, my Uncle, as well as some others I had talked to were no longer on this earth, but my friends? We were young! Nothing could stop us from achieving our dreams! Nothing! Nothing... Nothing but death...

I remember crying that day. I cried both for my lost friends, and for myself. Life would never be the same for me again.

And it wasn't. That day, it could have been said, was the beginning of the end. Bombs turned into larger bombs, which turned into even larger bombs. The world as I knew it was destroyed within the next few years. I remember that day, too. My family, or rather, what was left of it, fled into the country. At the beginning of that day, we had had electricity, working technology, everything. By the end of that day, the sky had turned a dusty orange, peering through tiny slits of angry reddish gray clouds. And there was no longer any telephone. The only electricity we had was from our backup generator. But even that eventually went out. As did the other generators and plants that actually had survived.

And then, there was the disease. Both the ones from the dirty bombs, but mostly the normal ones. How strange, to think that just years ago, these were easily curable. It is even stranger to think about that now. How much everything has changed.

And how much it can go back to being the same.

During that time, my mother died. It was hard, for not only was the world dying, but we were dealing with desperate people. Some who would do almost anything for the chance that you might have a bit of bread or a bit of medicine. But even as we delt with those, we found some who were willing to start over again.

It was hard at first, and if I recounted all that happened during that time, well, the stories would take at least another hundred pages. It is sufficient to say that I was forced to grow that year, by a lot, as people died, and we struggled to find our place in the world again.

I know I changed a lot. I could not stay the same.

But I did not forget what I had been. Or what the world had been. Or about all the arguments, secret agreements and such that had got us to this place. And I did not forget that people are very capable of doing the same things over and over again. Just watch- you see neighbors arguing with each other, crimes happen, and other such things, even as the world is building up again.

And so, I hold on to the past and to the present. Look, here is my holey umbrella. Here is a thing made in the past, something that can not be made anymore. It is filled with the holes of what we have done wrong, the holes we ourselves have made in this fabric of humanity. Yet, it can be repaired. With a bit of string, It can be useful again.

Where we were, where we are, and where we are going- To some of these we know the answers, and to others we do not know. But, in all things, there is hope. There is a tomorrow that rises and shines above all our yesterdays.

[Omac]

Sup, Naraness! I worked out part one of level one and it ends much better then I thought it would. You may want to read this (http://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=73362&p=2754489&viewfull=1#post2754489)first, but it isn't required.


So I had one mission; find the great dragon and ask it to help me on my quest to take down the wicked witch who stole my memories. By my side was my only ally, JJ, who appeared to be half human, half lizard. JJ was moving faster than me, his tail sliding in the mud. I couldn’t catch up. I didn’t have much energy… I think using the power from that starfish gem has tired me out. I may need to be more careful when using that sort of abilities. We moved through the trees until we were out of the forest.

The first thing I heard was a crashing rain bursting apart as it hit the ground. I could feel the water slip into my shoes the second I stepped down. I then could see it, a straight road covered in water like it had flooded the entire area. The next thing I saw was a woman walking down the road towards us with an umbrella, with obvious holes in the top, yet the woman looked almost completely dry.

JJ stopped me from moving forward, “Something doesn’t feel right. I’ll move on ahead to make sure there aren’t any possible threats we need to worry about. Stay here, I don’t want you getting hurt,” he said before moving through the tough winds until he was out of sight.

I couldn’t just stand here waiting for JJ to return so I pressed forward to talk to the strange woman. It was hard to walk through the water, that seemed to get deeper and deeper the closer to her I got. Still, despite this I was able to get close to her and what I saw was terrifying. She seemed beautiful at first with luscious black hair that seemed to blow in the wind perfectly. But, it was then that I noticed that above her ruby colored lips were two black abysses instead of eyes.

“Whoa!” I blurted out when I saw it.

“Don’t be rude,” she said without moving her lips, “Yes, I’m dead. Forced to walk this road for the rest of eternity, unless a hero comes along and finds a way to free me. All I want is a new umbrella. There is holes in my umbrella,”

I didn’t know how to react at first, but I sucked down my fears and asked, “Do you know where I can find such an umbrella?”

“Yes, at the end of this road if my house, but I’m unable to enter it so I need a mortal to do so for me. Once you bring me a holeless umbrella I’ll be able to go into the light. But, be warned that something dark guards my old home,”

“Okay, I’ll try my best,” I replied before moving forward down the long road. In no time at all I came to a small white trailer that looked like it’s been rolled around the mud for miles. It was all rusty and the steps leading up to it were broken and cracked. I was barely able to make my way to the front door without falling through.

I toyed with the door handle trying to undo the lock, but I couldn’t prevail. The starfish gem in my pocket began to glow a bright green color through my pants pocket. I pulled it and in that moment my grey hoodie turned a dark green color. Suddenly, I felt really intelligent and knew how to open the lock. I simply pulled out a few tools from within my hoodie, ones that weren’t previously there, and was able to start unscrewing the bolts to the door knob until it came off and the door slid open.

I peaked inside before putting the gem and the tools back to where they belonged, the green in my hoodie died back to a boring grey. I could see the inside was much larger than the outside of the trailer with a marble floor and a gigantic hallway leading into a pair of spiral stairs that likely went on for many floors. The main room before the hall had a gigantic chandelier floating above a beautiful living room with blue sofas to the left and beside it to the right was a small Kitchen of a similar color scheme. The last thing I saw was next to the stairs was a black umbrella without any holes in it.

I moved forward toward the umbrella, but then the hallway grew double it’s length. I moved back towards the kitchen, but then the walls started to ooze a strange green slime. Same thing with the living room. This house was some sort of trick house. Whatever dark entity that guarded this place was it obviously was having power over the dead woman’s home. I had to figure out a way to break this curse.

I tried pulling out my gem, but it didn’t give me either of the powers I previously used. I would have loved to have the strength to break through the spell or the smarts to solve this mystery. This rock had given me power before, so why wouldn’t it now? I stuffed it back into my pocket to examine at a later time. I looked up to the chandelier dangling above me. Something felt off about it... But I couldn’t put my finger on it. It was too high to reach, so I looked to my boomerang, but remembered my bad aim.

I jumped up attempting to smack it, but I was too short and missed. I turned around to leave so I could get a stick to whack it with, but then noticed that the door was missing. Now I wasn’t only stuck mentally, as I was stuck physically too. I remembered something from my past, a friend of mine getting dared to lick the bottom of his own shoe. It was crazy gross, but he did it. Why did that come back to me? Why now? Never-the-less it gave me an idea!

Slipping off my left shoe I tossed it up at the chandelier causing it to wobble back and forth. I threw it again, this time with double the force and it came crashing down. I was barely able to step out of the way before it nearly crushed me. I quickly reached for my shoe, sliding it back on. It was then I noticed my shoes were perfect tied, something I was still learning to master. Wait! That’s something else I remembered…. What did it mean?

Then the ground began to shake and the walls began to ooze like crazy, quickly causing a pile on both sides of the house until it was a small pool slowly coming towards me. I needed to think fast or I’d be stuck in that wicked mess. I was paralyzed in fear as the ooze came together getting closer and closer to me. It was then that the ooze merged into one growing into a human shaped figure.

It spoke to me, “Foolish boy! I’ll teach you a lesson for breaking into my home,”

I quickly reached the broken glass from the chandelier and threw a chunk of it at the ooze monster. It stabbed into it directly in the chest, but it simply melted away like the creature was made of acid. I thought of using my boomerang, but worried it would have the same result as the piece of glass. I needed to think fast if I didn’t want to be hurt by this creature… and then in pounced.

Midair the human figure turned into that of a big dog as it tackled me to the ground. I could feel no pain as it nibbled on my arm as I tried to ward it off. I kept having a red color flash over me and the more it bit me the weaker I felt. I took my other hand and punched it in the face only to find it had little to no effect. Think, think, think! I stuffed my hand inside it’s weird mouth and pulled on it’s tongue until I accidentally pulled it off. The creature evaporated into dust with only its tongue to remain.

“Gross!” I said out dropping the tongue to the ground, crushing it with my shoe. I could feel the evil leave the house and the long hallway suddenly turned a much less amount of space than before. I quickly walked down the hall, pulling the umbrella out of it’s vase. I looked back to the front only to remember the door was missing and the kitchen and living room were dead ends so my only choice was to go up. I grabbed ahold of the stair railing with my free hand and slowly made my way up the stairs.

I kept going on and on for what felt like twenty minutes of climbing until I came to the top with a single door. I slowly opened up the door at fear of what might be behind it… and to my amazement it was a room made completely out of marble, including the walls and ceiling. I stepped inside for the door to close behind me. I gripped the umbrella, ready for any sort of attack. Suddenly the room began to shake and I noticed it was getting smaller and smaller at a rapid speed. I started feeling around the walls for a way out, even trying the door that I entered from, but nothing would work. If I didn’t work fast I was going to be crushed.

I decided for some odd reason to sit on the ground and close my eyes. I wasn’t sure if I had a hunch or if I was accepting my fate. I could feel the starfish gem in my pocket get warm, possibly burning a hole in my pocket. I didn’t know what I was supposed to do, but I remained still until I could feel the walls forcing themselves onto me. I could then feel an intense amount of water slowly filling the room. As scared as I was I didn’t open my eyes for a second as the walls collided. I was surely dead.

I also posted this in my Butter Liar.

[Kicks]

Deep breath in. Deep breath out. Count of four in between each gasping intake and outtake. The oxygen does not resonate to your lungs. You feel it leave you before it has the time to carry into your bloodstream and make the most of the breath. It is almost like someone had "poked holes in my umbrella" as they say. If only you could really take in the oxygen then maybe your head would not be swimming around so much.

But you are so nervous. You are practically on the verge of tears. You wonder what has made you so panicky about this. People do it all the time. It is such a normal thing. It is so normal! So why are you shaking? Why are you panicking?

The world has such an atrocious view on women though. The view on what women need to do with their bodies, what they should do, and what they should not do scarred you into this thinking.

You sit on the bathroom floor in your underwear. It was a nice date. It went very well. It was not your first date either. You are thirteen months into your relationship now and it has become apparent what you must do. By the second date, society says, is when it is supposed to happen. If you hold out for thirteen months you are only leading a man on.

You swallow a lump in your throat.

The tears have begun to fall down your face.

Even if you are not leading a man on, that is all anyone will have to say about it. Thirteen months and you have not given it up yet? Oh you must just be waiting "for marriage", "for the right one". But that was not the case. Such double standards swirl through your head. Each of them hit you like a piercing needle through the skull and chest.

If you give it up, you are a whore. You are this filthy thing. You are not comfortable with your body either. According to what the world around you says you are too curvy. No man could love someone with so much... skin... so many folds!

The sob comes from your throat. There is a knock at the door and a gentle voice.

"Are you okay?"

You are not okay. You have embarrassed yourself. And now you are sitting on the bathroom floor in your underwear, sobbing into your hands like a big fat baby. Oh how television makes it look so easy! If they can do it, why can you not?

You are certain you are going to burn in hell for this. You are certain you are going straight to hell! But you do not even know if you believe in a heaven or a hell. You are not certain if there is such a thing. You were never certain of such a thing! But according to so many around you this was such a bad thing to do before marriage.

But this man... He is the love of your life! But are you ready for marriage? You are not even sure if you want that thing. You are not even sure if this is a man you want to settle with. You are so young, you have so much ahead of you... But again, you are expected to give grandchildren and you are expected to be a wife. You are expected to be a good bearer! A good housewife!

A good mother!

But do you want that? You were never sure on that either. You don't know what you want. You don't know what you think.

"Are you okay?" He asks gently again.

Through your turbulent thoughts your crying had turned down into quiet quivers. You had run out of the bedroom and straight into the bathroom when all of this had hit your head. And now after you had calmed down a little bit with such dizzy thoughts, you are thrown back into the sobs.

"I'm coming in." He says now. The doorknob turns and he enters into the bathroom. His shirt is missing- something she had hesitantly taken from him. But he has a blanket gently draped over his arm.

He looks so heart-broken... so sad. He looks like he wants to fix something. You see that look in his eyes. It is nothing but compassion.

He sits next to you, drapes the blanket over your shoulders, and then he pulls you close to him.

You sit in silence with him. You can feel his heart beating in his chest with your head up against it. He is warm. He is so warm.

The warmth of his body and the comfort of the blanket draws your eyes to shut. But your hands tighten around the blanket. You need to cover your fat, disgusting body. You are terrible looking. The cellulite, uneven coloring...

"You're so beautiful." He murmurs, "Even when you are distressed. I'm sorry you are though. I didn't mean... I... I would never do... not without..." He trails off, unsure how to continue.

He takes in a breath.

"I was nervous too." He laughs anxiously, "I mean... I am nervous. There are things... expected of me, you know? And I didn't want to mes up." His voice turns into a soft murmur.

"But in that moment before you came in here... sorry... It just sort of fell away. All that fear. That nervousness. And all I could focus on was you. Every inch of you. So soft... so tender... So beautiful. You're so beautiful."

You look up to see his face. He is smiling gently to himself, but he is looking at the ground as if daydreaming.

"I know I'm not exactly the dream guy, you know? I don't have a flat chest. I don't have abs. No real biceps to be amazed by..." He continues on. His thin body is shaking beside you. You hadn't noticed it before now. But he was shaking. And he was shaking earlier too.

"But I didn't think about that in that moment." He continues softly, "It was nice. I felt it all fall away and be replaced simply by you."

There you both are. Half naked together on the bathroom floor. Both shaking. Both with flushed faces. It is not sexy. It is not hot. It is soft. His lips on yours- just soft. And gentle. And you forget.

[Kris]

Temporals are beings with abilities to travel through time. In the far future the police uses Temporals to go back in time and stop criminals that wish to alter the past for their own gain. It usually involves kidnapping such gifted individuals to do so.

Temporals are limited to their use of power (can only do so once a week, or once three days if the person is really gifted) but the ability to jump through time can be hasten by sex. This is way most such couple (officers and Temporals) are usually official couples in their private life. Of course not all the Temporals are okay with this method or being a couple in work and they just wait the needed time instead.

Of course being a Temporal is not all so fun and flowers. You cannot produce a Temporal or marry two together in hope of Temporal children. What more, any biological interfering can permanently damage the ability of the user and they are treated with utmost care. They do not given risky vaccines or any bodily enchantment or any kind (not even inner Cyborgic implantment) and each country government keeps a close watch on these individual born in it's regime.

Because of such rare sprouts, by 2058 it was agreed that countries will exchange such people as if they were dealing in natural resources or good exporting and all of this is done to prevent horrible time malfunction of bad altering that may cause by greedy men that may kidnap or even use Temporals to go back in time and altar the past. Little need to say that if such people are kidnapped, they are usual raped and abused.

***
It was still raining when we reached the station where I was to meet my future partner. I couldn't have done the given missions alone after all, I was hardly trained, my body was hardly fit for the future, let alone combat and I was simply not an officer.

By any other standards I would have been considered as a civilian, however fate had other plans for me. The first thing I meeting up with was bureaucracy. I was to declare of my possessions, taking my measures and my teeth picture. I was given a uniform, a tablet with regulations upon which I needed to sign with few copies, dog tag with my new future ID number, uniforms (Which I probably needed to shape to fit me better) and finally after so many hours of waiting in line and passing from one office to another I was administrated to a room and given the key to rest for the day.

God, you think that in the future such things will be even easier to do, but you only find out that some system are kept as they are, rusty as they are, oiled just enough for the old gear to work, and preserved. I thought my hope for the future was lost at that moment but the minute I walked into my new apartment my worries faded as if they were nothing but butterflies in the belly before a big test.

Like the fancy cabin I was spending the last days with, my room was surprisingly big and fitted with luxury kitchen and bed chambers. And the best part it was all mine. I was even told I was allowed to use the money I earn to redecorate the place by the nice lady at section 5D (If she was a lady, it was really hard to tell in the future).

The first thing I did was take a long and warm bath, and as I opened the bathroom door I nearly screamed with excitement to find out that my apartment actually had a big tube Jacuzzi and few aromatic candles that were only waiting to be lit. I stormed to the kitchen to open the fridge only to find a lot of canned food and other "healthy" nutrition, the food substitute Wilbert told me about. I felt my smile fade a bit, as I was adoring sweets and chocolate and as much as I felt holes in my Umbrella of joy I realized you can't win at all.

Still, there was a red wine battle of a kind I did not recognized, labeled 2015. A sting was attached with a tag that said "Welcome".

I smiled as I grabbed a glass from the cupboard and I poured as I slowly filled up the water in the tube. The rest of the night was mine and I planned to enjoy it before the next big day.

***

I was awake at 7:00 and not soon after a melody broke from somewhere in my apartment rushing me to get dressed and head downstairs into the gathering room. I poured myself a cup of coffee (thank god they kept that in the future), and since I didn't feel like eating I just went downstairs.

I noticed it before while traveling from one room to another, but now it seemed clear to me. The place was not exactly the top high tech I've seen in the last few days and I realized the station was actually either not renown, or that it was poor and not very active. It was no wonder I was getting such treatment then. Getting a Temporal to work with them was probably something that could boost the reputation of the station, where they could get more founds and reputation.

The station manager, Doloria Redovid was introducing herself to me, and then presented me to the rest of the team (I kinda envied the fact their uniforms were so fit, unlike mine that seemed bigger than myself. I needed to fix it the first change I get). They all seemed nice and accepting, and they reach forward to show themselves before me.

Rian, Lori.... Adam? So many names in such little time... there were about 30 of them, but I was okay with that number, as this station seemed to be very humble and modest, unlike the other big facilities I was in. I felt the sensation of freedom and my will increasing.

"It's time we meet your partner then", she said slowly as she was pushing my shoulders, making me to follow her.

I swallowed as I walked down the long corridor, feeling as if I was leading to be hanged. This was it. Everything was lying on this enigmatic man I was to meet and see if It was possible for me to work with. My pacing was slow at first, but then I straighten my gaze and looked ahead at the door. I made up my mind since I got off the train. I was going to be the best Temporal I could, earning my place in this new home, for new exciting possibilities.

And he was going to cooperate for sure.

I mean how bad could it be right?

[Griff]

Mika looked down at the street, her wet hair dripping into her face as she advanced down the street at a snail’s pace. It was dusk, the sun had just begun to set and the pale moon could be seen against the sharp contrast of the brilliant orange sky. Dark clouds began to cover the view while Mika was walking, the unmistakable sound of thunder filling the area.

The townspeople surround Mika began to run, their heavy footsteps filling the normally quiet area. Still doing nothing, she continued to walk, ignoring the rain falling onto her. Mika looked up, finally noticing the pouring rain as it dampened her shirt, further slowing her movements. The rain drops fell on her face as she frowned slightly, annoyed by its presence.

Picking up her pace, Mika scanned her surroundings hoping to find some cover or protection from the rain. To her disappointment, she didn’t find any buildings nearby, so she was stuck out in the cold. Hana and Don were on the other side of the town, at their camp gathering supplies. Mika could only keep walking, trying her best to ignore the cold seeping into her skin.

Shivering, she flinched as the cold wind whipped through her face and hair, only further chilling her. She brushed her hair into her face to avoid the cold and tried to shrink into her clothes as much as she could.

Huddled into her clothes, she didn’t notice the rock near her left foot until she tripped onto it, her knees planting into the gravel-ridden ground as she caught herself with her hands. Her hands stung from landing, she picked herself up and noticed a trail of blood flowing from her knee, the rain and cold wind stinging her as she brushed off the gravel from the wound.

Limping onward, she hobbled down the street, slowly advancing down the nearly abandoned street.

A small girl opened the door to her house and saw Mika limping down her street. She noticed the blood on her knees and called out, “Miss! Miss!”

Mika turned and saw the small girl run out to her, the rain dampening her braids, the brown hair turning a shade closer to black. Looking at her, Mika muttered, “What?” Slightly annoyed at the child’s presence.

“You’re hurt! What are you doing out in the rain? Come inside.” The child urged, pushing Mika slightly in the direction of her house.

Reluctantly complying, Mika limped towards the house, asking, “Who are you? Where are your parents?”

“Oh, my parents are out,” The girl grinned, “My name’s Chandra.” She ushered Mika inside the door.

The house was very small and quaint, and the warmth was a welcome feeling. Chandra took Mika’s jacket and set it in front of the fire, hoping to get it less soaked. “Sit down,” The girl said, digging through her cabinets, “I’ll get something for your knee. Do you like tea?”

Nodding, Mika hissed as she pulled her torn pants above her knee, making it easier to clean. Chandra ran back in with a box in her hands and sat in front of Mika, taking out a piece of cloth. She poured alcohol over the cloth and cleaned off her knee, Mika hissed at the stinging, grimacing slightly. “You know what you’re doing,” Mika commented, noticing her professionalism in the treatment of her knee.

She hummed in agreement, and responded, “Yeah, my family runs the healer’s shop down the road, they taught me the basics,” turning around, she grabbed a bandage from the box and began to unroll it, preparing to wrap it around her knee.

“I know a bit of the basics as well, I actually went to school for a little while,” Mika said, watching Chandra wrap the bandage on her knee, she stood up when the bandage was in place, “Thanks,” she said, checking to see if she had any money on her, “Do you want money?”

Shocked, Chandra ran up and yelled, “Oh no! You’d never have to pay! Here let me grab you something for the way home,” she ran out of the room and came back holding an old umbrella. It was a faded red, with a few patches and holes in it, and Chandra held it out to Mika. “Here, take it.”

Looking at her for confirmation, Mika hesitantly grabbed it, treating it like it was a delicate instrument. “Are-Are you sure?”

Nodding, Chandra smiled and said, “Yeah, this is old, I found it a couple of days ago, I figured you’d need it,” she gave her a hug and pretended not to notice the tears in Mika’s eyes. Suddenly remembering the drying jacket, she ran and grabbed it before giving it to Mika, who was still shocked at the gift. “You should come back soon,” Chandra said again, “It gets boring here.”

“O-Of course,” Mika said, flustered, “If you ever need help here just send a message, my group and I are staying at the old warehouse on the other side of town, it would be no trouble.” She slipped on her jacket that was less damp than before and started to head towards the door.

“I will,” Chandra said, waving goodbye, “Have a safe walk home!”

Waving goodbye, Mika stepped out into the rain again, opening the red umbrella, and feeling absolutely happy for the first time in weeks. Looking at the simple design, she felt like it protected her from the rain, despite the multiple holes in it. It was keeping her together. Every intricate stitch and patchwork could tell its own story, from the large gash near the center, to the small pins on the ends. Even the mud and the stains had their own saga to share. The faded color could tell you more about the original owners than any historical text could. It had a soul. Maybe this was just Mika being incredibly happy at the first act of kindness she had actually seen in weeks, or maybe, in some way, the umbrella reminded her of her. In the patchwork, dented umbrella kind of way. Definitely the first one, Mika was just happy.

The ending sucks, but I don't even care. The story is a tiny bit above 1000 words.