The Umbrella of Fate

Today is an important day for Si-yun -- proposal day. Nothing strange is going to stop her, right??

"An order in the name of...?"

 

"Park Si-yun."

 

The pastry shop, so pink and bright, stood out like a star on the gray street. The downpour did not stop all weekend. And it's also called "May"!

 

Si-yun was no stranger to rains, but after moving to Helsinki, she realized how much she loved their absence. Fortunately, she doesn't have long to live here �" as soon as Aino finishes the project, they will move to Seoul, Si-yun's hometown. The sky is not so harsh there, and both girls feel comfortable there. Aino is not particularly picky. Either because she is Finnish, or because of her indescribable modesty and gentleness. She always says that the most important thing for her is to be with Si-yun, and every time she hears this, she is immersed in a dizzying feeling of happiness. Today is a special day, an anniversary. Si-yun ordered their favorite cake with cheese cream, white chocolate and a little secret ingredient �" an engagement ring hidden under a large strawberry in the middle. Si-yun meticulously watched as the product was packed into a box with the bakery's logo: God forbid that this young intern behind the counter would touch even a millimeter of the cake �" she would smash everything here.

 

With the box in her hands, Si-yun headed for the exit. A yellow umbrella was pulled out of a bucket right in front of her… Her umbrella! Aino gifted it to her during their trip to Reykjavik. Yellow outside, blue with clouds inside.

 

Si-yun's attempts to draw attention of the mysterious thief to herself were unsuccessful. Thinking that she was wearing earphones, Si-yun tried to tap her shoulder, but the woman quickly slipped out from under her palm like water. After leaving the pastry shop, she smoothly merged with the stream of pedestrians. Si-yun, noticing another yellow umbrella in the bucket, came to conclusion that the woman had simply confused them. She went outside, protecting herself from the downpour with the umbrella that was left behind, looked for her own, fortunately, it was difficult not to find it. The yellow umbrella chased after another yellow umbrella �" carefully, so as not to slip and drop the cake! �" and suddenly �" bam!! �" The umbrella is gone! It just disappeared, fell through the ground.

 

Si-yun ran to the place where the figure with the umbrella disappeared. A muddy puddle the size of a small sea stretched out in front of her. "Did she fall, maybe?" Si-yun was alarmed. Who knows, there might be a trapdoor or a drain under the puddle.

 

The girl looked closely at the puddle, and something strange caught her eye: her reflection couldn't keep up with her. Si-yun bent down and took a closer look. She waved at the muddy version of her self; the one staying on the other side. Creepy! And it's very unusual and illogical. Si-yun touched the puddle with the toe of her boot. The reflections melted and swam, and the foot went deeper and deeper. Si-yun tried to pull her leg out in fright. Something was clinging to her tightly. The girl forcefully pulled her leg towards herself, and as if in response, she was pulled down with the same force.

 

Si-yun fell through a thin water illusion. When she opened her eyes, she saw a grand celebration with millions of colorful fish swimming through the air like birds, and no less than a number of mermaids with tails and hair of all possible colors. It was so bright that she had to rub her eyes.

 

"Are you okay?"? The broad-shouldered mermaid asked, holding Si-yun in her hands. She only noticed it now.

 

"I-I'm sorry.." Si-yun jumped off the mermaid's hands. With an umbrella, a box, and no tail, she stood out a lot.

 

"Have you brought a gift to Her Majesty, Recimsia? Nice," the mermaid nodded, "Let me also take your shield."

 

"The shield...?? A gift..???" Si-yun turned around in confusion. As soon as she blinked, the umbrella and the cake disappeared from her hands. "Uh�" Hey�" Wait!"

 

Si-yun ran after the mermaid. The crowd of mermaids made way for their own, but Si-yun didn't seem to exist. Surrounded and unbroken, she squeezed between the scaly tails until she reached the widest table she had ever seen in her life. There was a giant mountain of colorful, small and large gifts piled on it. The cake was crowned at the very top. "As long as it doesn't fall..." flashed through Si-yun's mind. She turned her head. At the other end of the table was a large�"well, you can't call it a bucket�" bowl for umbrellas, raincoats and hats. Si-yun tried to crawl towards it, but quickly gave up and decided to crawl under the table so that no one would interfere with her.

 

Taking out her favorite, Si-yun climbed on the table from below it. It remains to save the cake. Balancing on boxes and parcels, Si-yun strode towards the peak of the gift mountain.

 

"Don't lie to me, I feel like you're not ready," Someone said from below, to the left, "I'm waiting and waiting, and I'm tired!"

 

"Wait, Cimi…"

 

"And wait again?! " A mermaid with infinitely long green hair blurted out, "Don't you understand?? My parents will marry me to a some duke if you keep dragging this out! You may not have noticed, but the fate of Atlantis is hanging on me."

 

Si-yun has finally reached the top. She reached for the cake. By misallocating the weight in her body, Si-yun destroyed the top of the box mountain. The cake flew down rapidly. His landing point was Her Highness' face.

 

"Ouch!!" She exclaimed, spinning around, trying to rid herself of the cream. It seems that the ring hit her on the forehead.

 

Si-yun took a closer look. The ring rolled away to the beloved of the princess, and she looked up. Si-yun mouthed it: "This is my ring!!" The mermaid nodded, took her own ring out of the pocket of her dress and quickly and imperceptibly swapped the rings.

 

"How awful! My dress.. Oh, damn it, something hit me on the forehead!" The princess finally got rid of the cake that flew into her face.

 

"This.. This should have been a surprise," The beloved girl of Cimi picked up her ring from the stone floor, as if it was originally in the cake, "Happy birthday, my little jellyfish."

 

The princess screamed in delight, hugged her bride, whirled with her and sang. Pulling away from her, she immediately swam to show the ring to everyone. Si-yun opened her umbrella and jumped down. She noticed that there was no water nor air around her even when she climbed up. The mermaids and fish could swim safely at any height, and Si-yun breathed freely. The umbrella became her parachute. Landing next to the mermaid, she hugged and congratulated her.

 

"I'm sorry about your cake," the Mermaid looked around. "Please, give me a minute."

 

Quickly swimming to the table with treats, she found a set of the cutest cupcakes decorated with blue cream and seahorses. The mermaid brought the cupcakes to Si-yun, placing a ring on the center.

 

"Here.It's an important day for you too."

 

They smiled at each other and laughed. Si-yun hurried to leave Atlantis. She was waited for.

 

After getting out of the puddle, the first thing Si-yun noticed was that she was completely dry. The rain had finally stopped, and thin rays of sunlight cut through thick clouds. The second thing the girl noticed was Aino walking towards the pastry shop.

 

"Aino!" She shouted, running to her beloved.

 

"Sweetie, there you are!" Aino, seeing Si-yun, ran into her arms. The hood fell off her head, giving the blonde waves freedom, "You didn't answer your phone, I got worried."

 

"Please forgive me, honey, I..." Si-yun racked her memory. She couldn't remember where she was a minute ago, "Well, it probably doesn't matter," Kissing Aino on the forehead, she took her hand, and they headed for home, "Let's go home . I've got some goodies for you and... something else."

 

 

Fin.

Author's Note

I wrote this short story while playing an improvisation game with my friends. I got the following tags for the story:

romance

the yellow umbrella as a plot catalyst

a cake in a fcking face

Antarctica

Reviews

[Elsa 123]

Hi!

Your story really stood out to me. The way you write makes the scenes easy to imagine visually, which is always exciting from an artist’s perspective.

I’m a commission artist who focuses on book covers, character illustrations, and visual storytelling. If you ever consider getting custom artwork for your story, I’d love to help create something unique for it.

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