Flash Fiction: Umbrella

It's raining and gloomy outside right now (and has been off and on for the past few days). I was staring out the window when this little fic popped into my head.


Rain poured down when I stepped out of class. I reached into my backpack, but the only things in there were my books and my paper.

I took out my umbrella the day before, to give myself more room. Right.

Nothing to do for it now. I had to cross campus in order to get back to the dorms. I stuffed my hands into my hoodie pocket, scrunched up my shoulders, and stepped out.

Within a few steps, the rain was running down my face.

A few more and I could feel it soaking through my hoodie and my jeans rasped against my legs.
I pulled the hood up over my head, but it did little to protect me from the driving rain. I hunched over as a cold wind blew out of the north and blasted straight into my face.

I should have stayed in bed.

I was only about a quarter of the way across campus when a boy’s voice caught my attention. “Umbrella?” he said.

I looked over to see him staring at me, his umbrella held at an angle so there was enough room beneath it for two. His hair was black and cropped short above rough features and a powerful build. I recognized him from my math class, where he sat in the front and scribbled constantly in his notebook.

“Thanks.” I stepped underneath it, feeling the immediately relief of getting out of the rain. I was still soaked but at least I couldn’t get any worse.

“Where do you live?” he continued as we kept walking.

“Nelson.” I pushed my hood off my head, running my fingers through my scraggly hair. “What about you?”

“Same. My name’s Jake, by the way.” He switched the umbrella to his other hand so that he could reach over to shake.

I clasped his hand briefly, enjoying the momentary warmth on my freezing skin. “Nora.”