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Short story #1

The Tattered Umbrella

The little frog jumped around, listless. He wanted to see the real world- the world outside the safe little bubble of his boring old lily pond. It was the same monotonous routine everyday- wake up, eat and go to sleep. He was sick and tired of being surrounded by the same green and the same blue all the time. There weren't even many flowers in the lily pond, except for plain white lilies which weren't even blooming at the time. The frog sighed. He knew his life was fated to be dull and boring but he wanted to change that. If only he knew how.

Meanwhile, in another part of the same city, a little boy looked enviously at a group of children playing and shouting. He really wanted to be one of those boys. He really wanted a friend but all he had was a tattered red umbrella. He sighed. He felt like he was all alone in the world. As he walked away and went to a place near a lily pond. The place was green and fresh and very out of the ordinary for the boy. He loved it so much that he didn't even notice that he left something behind.

The frog strayed away from the pond for a while, looking for some colour on his dull green world. He kept going till a flash of metal caught his eye. He went to it and realised that it was a scarlet umbrella. The umbrella was in tatters. While it had once helped people stay dry, it was now useless. To the frog, however, it was the most beautiful and vibrant thing he had seen. He savoured the bright crimson colour with his eyes, hoping that one day he could see the rest of the world in all its vivid colours.

The umbrella had been through so many rainy days and seen so many different places and people. While it was falling apart, it was what the frog wanted to be- experienced and free. The frog went back to his lily pond rarer reluctantly but all he could think about was the beautiful umbrella. The next day, he returned to the umbrella and this time, he found something else too. It was a little boy with bright blue eyes that suddenly lit up and unruly jet black hair, wearing the weirdest and most colourful assortment of clothes. They stared at each other for a while, both equally fascinated by the other.

The little boy picked up the frog which settled itself into his palm happily. The boy ha always wanted a friend and the frog had always wanted to see the world. They had found each other and the frog had finally broken free of the confines of his lily pond.

And it was all because of a tattered umbrella.

A/N
Hey!! So I decided to compile all my short stories and stuff in one book for people to just read whenever and wherever. I started this when my teacher told us to write a story where a frog, umbrella and lily pond play a crucial role. I really enjoyed writing the story and I really hope you liked reading it.

Comment all your interpretations of the story and what you thought it symbolised.

For me, I wrote it to show how the thing or person that helps you out isn't perfect and also the whole breaking free part and being alone and how the imperfections of one person and the perfections of the other fit together and vice versa. If you have another opinion though, it's okay. Stories are written to be interpreted by the readers.

Love and Nutella sandwiches (long story for another time but in short, I love Nutella and am cruelly deprived of it but I'll give other people so I feel like a philanthropist)

Xoxo

Anu.

Edit: sooo I changed this into a book of me and my randomness which includes everything weird in the world but hey, it's not that bad *friends give me skeptical looks* I mean, um, there has got to be someone who's weird enough to tolerate me *looks at friends* *friends shrug* So if you're insane and random and weird, read on. Otherwise, I'd advise you not to.