Umbrella

It was a cloudy night; the darkness covered the city like a thick blanket. The wind blew gusts
of air smelling of car fumes through the streets; it sneaked under the cracks of doors and
whispered down sooty chimneys.

Mr Bell hurried down a dark street, holding onto his bowler hat so that the harsh
breeze couldn't steal it. The wind blew harder, almost blowing the short, stout man off-
course. Eyes narrowed, Mr Bell tried again to walk into the path of the determined gale. A
hazy drizzle of misty rain drifted down in sheets, making him shiver and cough. Cursing the
cold, he drew his coat tighter around his large figure. As he made to clamp his hat to his
head again, he spotted something black and flapping on the pavement. An umbrella!

His heart leapt; the umbrella would be perfect! Feeling pleased with himself, Mr Bell
ran towards it and snatched it up. The handle was smooth and glossy, and the waterproof
dome was black and very large.

As Mr Bell raised it above his head, something remarkable happened. He began to

feel lighter as he ran over the cobbled street, holding tight. Lighter and lighter. With a gasp,
he realised that his leather shoes were no longer making contact with the pavement. He was
flying! The wind lifted him up like hundreds of hands, all pushing upwards.

With a delighted and shocked shout, Mr Bell gazed down at the sprawling city below
him. The street lamps looked like beautiful, luminous flowers reaching up to him. Cars
reminded him of jewel-coloured beetles crawling through the concrete maze.

The wind led him towards the park; it was the only splash of green in a grey ocean of
buildings and roads. Clutching the umbrella tightly, he drifted towards two bronze statues of
lions guarding the park entrance. Mr Bell outstretched his free hand and reached towards
one. As he passed, he patted it on its cold head. The lion roared deeply and shook its
impressive mane, whilst watching the small man float past. Wide-eyed, Mr Bell swung
himself away. The umbrella swayed dangerously and as he grasped the handle harder, he
waited dizzily for the world to stop spinning.

Still the wind carried him on. He glanced back at the now still statues. The trees
swayed in time with the umbrella as he drifted higher again. A white barn owl flew past Mr
Bell like a winged ghost.

As he rose, he scanned the sprawling city for his house. There. He gently coaxed the
umbrella down towards his street. The wind rushed down and with a bump, Mr Bell landed
outside his house. He looked around to check that nobody had noticed him disembarking,
before making his way up the garden path. The promise of light and warmth beckoned him
inside. As he stood on the front porch, he folded the umbrella up and smiled as he thought
about what an exciting bedtime story his daughters would have that night.

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1. I didn’t mean to kill her.
2. The air turned black all around me.
3. Icy fingers gripped my arm in the darkness.
4. Wandering through the graveyard it felt like something was watching me.
5. The eyes in the painting follow him down the corridor.
6. A shrill cry echoed in the mist
7. Icy wind slashed at his face and the rain danced its evil dance upon his head as he
tried to get his bearings on the isolated beach.
8. Footsteps slowly creaked on every step of the stairs. The bedroom door handle
turned slowly.
9. Death lurked in every door way with hell at one dark window. Inspired by A. Noyes
'The Highwayman'
10. My hair stood on end, a shiver raced down my spine and a lump came to my throat. It
was him...
11. The gravestones stood silently, row upon row like soldiers long forgotten, a scream
shattered the silence...
12. It was there and then it had gone, why would a rabbit be on my bathroom floor?
13. Bleary-eyed, I went downstairs for breakfast, the house was empty, even the furniture
had gone...
14. The lights flickered and then went off, then the sirens started, it was coming, we knew
it wouldn’t be the last time...
15. The date was 13th July, my 345th birthday... it would be my last...
16. Three of us. We were the only ones left, the only ones to make it to the island.
17. "What have you done?" the headmaster bellowed, all eyes now turned to me as he
stood over the lifeless body on playground.
18. Dad just sat and cried. He cried for three whole days. His face was blotchy and his
eyes were red. Then one day he just stopped...
19. The clock stopped... 74 minutes past 18...it was time to get up.
20. The car screamed to a halt, four men wearing masks jumped out and ran into the
nearest building, I looked around. The street was deserted except for me.
21. Everything stopped, people were stood like statues all around me, people in cars,
men on bicycles, babies in prams all lifeless, frozen in time.
22. I had never seen a ghost. But like they say, there is a first time for everything.
23. He opened the safe and it had gone. No one had the code, who could have opened
it?
24. Grey and foreboding, the castle stood atop the hill looking down across the small
town, in the topmost window of the highest tower stood a small boy called...
25. Am I in heaven? What happened to me?
26. Closer and closer it came, it was getting bigger and bigger, soon it filled the sky
above, was the moon falling?
27. He wandered aimlessly through the house seeking any form of distraction to avoid
the inevitable doom. Why did it feel like he was nearing the gallows?
28. Peeking through the window her surprise turned to horror...
29. I woke up with a start, something was in my room. The wardrobe doors opened and
it came out of my wardrobe.
30. "Witches don't exist!" My gran's words echoed around my head as the horrific visage
gurned at me through my bedroom window.
31. Keeping watch at the side of the ship, George was tiring; his eyes weary from
constantly searching the horizon, were they also playing tricks on him? What was
that waving from the rocks?
32. The two coins in his pocket clinked together as he stumbled down the cold pavement,
the holes in his shoes turning his feet into blocks of ice. His heart was warmed
though in the knowledge that he was rich.
33. The phone rang. "Hello," I said, "Hello." No one was there. I hung up. All the lights
went out...
34. Wrapped up warm against the icy fingers of dusk, the caretaker closed the cemetery
gates, who was that watching him?
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35. Hundreds of eyes peered at me through the darkness in the alley. How many cats
where there? Why were they all here together?
36. I heard the music as I entered the room, but all that was there was a violin, lay there
on it's back on the bare floorboards.
37. It was the day the moon fell.
38. I couldn't believe a word he told me any more and why had he brought me here?
39. Cold and wet, tired and exhausted she made her way along the path through the
forest.
40. Everything stopped, everything a statue all around me. Frozen in time.
41. "Help me!" Help me!" Came the call from behind the steel door.
42. "Welcome to the future!" saidving, the teacher as she removed the sheet with a
flourish revealing what had been hidden beneath.
43. My next door neighbours, The Johnsons, were all asleep in their coffins when I
climbed the fence to get the ball.
44. It moved, why was it moving? That should not have been moving, well not on it's own
anyway.
45. I hadn't seen the door before. It wasn't there last night. Cautiously, I turned the
handle.
46. She scratched his face from the photograph. She would get her revenge.
47. It was a bright, frosty morning. The pavement glistened like a carpet of crushed
diamonds in the early morning sunshine. by Debbie Reynolds
48. As she walked along the street the tiny dragon in her pocket stirred restlessly. By Dot
Hallam
49. Just after he died, he sat up.
50. His metal mask shone in the sunlight, he prayed that this would not be his last day.
51. 'I pushed open the old creaky door and looked inside. What a sight met my eyes!'
52. It was spring 2014 when I first realised I could breathe under water.

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1. As the door creaked open, I saw something that I thought I
would never see again.
2. As I was walking through the forest behind our backyard, I
thought I heard a whisper, but there was no one in sight.
3. The entire village banded together to slay the dragon that had
started circling the hills nearby, but I knew something no one
else did.
4. Maya had meant to kayak back to her family's campsite before
it started to pour, but she got caught in the storm, and her
kayak was pushed by the waves until she landed on the shore
of a cave.
5. In a hidden city where everyone had a unique superpower,
Zahra discovered that she was the only one who was ordinary.
6. The traveler finally settled in on the train when he realized he
had the wrong suitcase.
7. A loud crash from the other room startled the little girl as she
was watching TV.
8. Henry was the last person to leave school that day when he
noticed an important news article left behind on the teacher's
desk.
9. A knock on the front door revealed the unexpected arrival of
her best friend, holding a mysterious package.
10. She didn't put too much thought into what her fortune
cookie had said, until it started to come true.
11. I was walking home from school when the strange old
man appeared again.
12. While daydreaming in the car, I had an amazing idea.
13. The treasure trove was empty when we got there.
14. As I brushed my teeth in the morning, it seemed like my
reflection was delayed, moving a second after I did.
15. As I walked down the street, I heard a strange sound
coming from behind our neighbor's shed.
16. The middle of the day is not when you expect things like
this to happen.
17. I walked out of the room quickly, excited to tell my
parents the news.
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18. The kids at this new school were nice to me on my first
day, but something seemed odd, and I couldn't figure out
what it was.
19. The child was told not to open the door under any
circumstances.
20. I walked backward, retracing my steps in the snow.
21. He couldn't remember how he got there, but decided to
follow the path to see where it led.