| It was one of those days.
I was running- not by choice. I don�t run. I�m not a happy little jogging chick, or a super motivated thick calves and heavy breathing woman. I run like a fool, with my arms flapping everywhere. Today, I was running because it was raining. I don�t use umbrellas, either. I�ve never brought an umbrella outside with me because I knew it was going to rain. I duck under other people�s umbrellas. I probably open umbrellas more indoors than outdoors. That�s supposed to be bad luck. Alex was somewhere behind me, splashing through puddles as he ran. Little kids like to splash through puddles. I did, too, up until I was about fourteen or so. That�s a little old to splash through puddles. It ruins your clothes. I didn�t care about clothes. Alex yelled something to me, but the wind caught it. I turned to him, and I saw the little scrawny boy, his dyed black hair dancing in the wind, his face red with running and streaming with rainwater. The Alex-demon�s mouth was opened wide as he spoke soundless words. I waved at him impatiently. We ran past a couple who shrieked when we splashed water at them, but the wind clenched their curses as soon as they uttered them. We turned a corner, and there was the hospital ahead- BELLIN MENTAL HEALTH INSTITUTE. It gave me a burst of speed. Alex and I ran and ran, through the puddles, past the people. Through the parking lot. To the front doors. Opening the glass doors, we were hit with sterilized hospital air. Safe from the torrent of wind and rain, I looked at Alex again and laughed. His hair was now plastered to his red face, his clothes soaked. God had taken a piss all over him. �You look about the same,� he said sourly. We went to the front desk and told a plump lady our business. She directed us to a room on the seventh floor. We squelched over to the elevators. Alex firmly pressed the up arrow and glanced at his watch, which was black and thick and looked like it might be bulletproof, or wanted to. The elevator said �ding!� The doors opened to reveal a solemn, bearded man holding a dog leash and an open umbrella over his head. Alex and I stared at him for a moment before stepping into the elevator. The doors closed, imprisoning us with the strange man. He wore white, thin hospital clothes. I looked down at his feet and saw aged brown slippers. They must have been warm and fuzzy at one time, but now they were matted and worn. I exchanged a bewildered glance with Alex, who shrugged. The man said nothing. �So,� I said jovially to the man, �what�s with the umbrella?� He turned his head slowly to look at me. �It�s raining,� he answered quietly. I swallowed. The man�s face was hallow and his eyes grey and emotionless. �You�re inside now,� I managed to say. The man turned away from me and looked up at the numbers alight above the elevator doors. �I can hear it raining in the walls,� he said calmly. I shuddered. Fortunately, the elevator stopped at the seventh floor and Alex and I hurried out. Behind us, the doors closed on the strange man. We set out down the hallway, looking for room 729. Alex jabbed his elbow into my side. �Look.� Three nurses in blue scrubs were running towards us, panicked and panting. �Have you seen a man with an umbrella and a dog leash?� one of them asked breathlessly. �He was on the elevator,� I said, puzzled. �He didn�t get off on the first floor. He�s probably still riding it.� �Thank you!� With an appreciative touch of my arm, the nurses ran to the elevator and frantically pressed the down arrow. Alex and I found room 729 and knocked carefully. �Come in,� said the little voice. We opened the door, and there was our sister, sitting serenely in her white clothes at a table with a paper and some crayons. �Hey,� I said gently. �How are you?� �Still crazy,� she replied. |
| Hospital This mini-story had to include the image of an open umbrella in an elevator. |
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