Original Fiction: "Some Other Weather"

[halfshellvenus]

Title: Some Other Weather
Original Fiction
Author: HalfshellVenus
Rating: G
Summary: The obvious is not the only truth.
Author's Notes: A team_prose entry for writerverse, on "Umbrella" and "Loss," and for writers_choice (also "Umrella").

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Comments

[tsuki_no_bara]

i love the idea of umbrellas as fortune-tellers! and that the narrator didn't want to open hers (or his, i guess the narrator could be a guy) because if she didn't know her future, it couldn't come true.

[halfshellvenus]

I was really drawn to the inverse idea of umbrellas, that instead of keeping rain off/out, they might release something meaningful to the person holding them.

because if she didn't know her future, it couldn't come true.
It seems so superstitious, but if you don't know it beforehand, you can deny the possibility that it could be true. I understand that completely!

[muchtooarrogant]

This was lovely, particularly your closing line. All too human indeed.

Dan

[halfshellvenus]

Thank you! It was an unexpected story, but sometimes prompts lead you to strange places!

[muchtooarrogant]

Those are, in my opinion, the very best prompts! :)

Dan

[whipchick]

Such a beautiful, beautiful piece, and so very original.

Reminds me of a pair of street acrobats, who play English gentlemen - the finale is one standing on the other's head and opening an umbrella, which rains a shower of sparkles. An equally magical moment :)

[halfshellvenus]

I loved the idea of rain coming from inside the umbrella rather than falling around it, and the possibility of the rain bringing something symbolic rather than literabl.

I can see why it would remind you of the acrobats-- there's a piece of that concept in here!

Thanks so much for reading and commenting. :)

[n3m3sis42]

Wow. This was lovely in so many ways. I adored the cadence and also the concept. I identify with your narrator. I don't want to know what's coming. I wan to make my choices and hope for the best.

[halfshellvenus]

There's kind of a fear of "jinxing" the good things, and knowing the bad might just destroy the present.

I'm glad you noticed the cadence-- that was very much a part of the style of this piece, but I think most people are unaware of the effect.

Thanks for reading!

[unwritten_muse]

I really like this. The premise is extremely interesting, especially coming from a family where my mother always told us not to open your umbrella in the house because it was bad luck. With that in my head, adding in this idea that opening an umbrella can tell you about your future becomes even more fascinating. I'm particularly fond of the narrator's reasoning for never opening their umbrella again. It's a really great piece.

(And I'm kind of dying to know, even though it's not important to the narrative at all, how the music related to her life. *g*)

[halfshellvenus]

Thanks for coming back to read this one! I noticed that it still fell under the read-and-review guidelines (the timer runs on the comment, not the fic), which means I can go back farther in doing my own catching up!

That notion of not opening umbrellas when you don't "need to" is part of what inspired this story-- the ideal that they're not just keeping the rain off, they might also be holding something in.

I'm particularly fond of the narrator's reasoning for never opening their umbrella again. It's the exact opposite of the people who frivolously treat their umbrellas like fortune cookies. Once you have something or someone you're terribly afraid to lose, NOT knowing that a tragedy might lurk around the corner is the only thing that keeps you sane