| “ | She thought about letting go, but she didn't want to lose her umbrella. She held on with both hands. | ” |
| — Narration | ||
"Umbrella" is the thirteenth chapter of Wayside School Beneath the Cloud of Doom.
Synopsis[]
Sharie's umbrella saves her from showing up late to class.
Plot[]
Sharie enjoys walking in the rain, stomping and splashing in puddles, while carrying her favorite umbrella, which is purple with green stripes (or the other way around, covered with yellow polka-dots of various sizes), even if it is a little heavy. She loves hearing the rain patter against it, and she loves the feel of its wooden handle. Sharie is a block away from Wayside School when she hears the school's morning bell ring, and starts rushing for the school, hoping she won't be late.
When she reaches the school, the eight minutes alarm rings, though she stops for a brief moment to notice that the sidewalk is dry, thanks to the Cloud of Doom keeping all the other clouds away, including the rain clouds. She glares at the cloud for a moment, but suddenly, a gust of wind tears her umbrella away and blows it across the blacktop. She starts chasing after it, and nearly catches it as it gets caught on a bike rack, but it swoops upwards a moment afterwards. Sharie manages to catch the handle, but gets pulled up herself. She considers letting go, but doesn't want to lose her favorite umbrella.
She continues getting pulled upwards, and with each floor, realizes she should've let go sooner. By the sixth floor, it's too late. As she floats upwards, her left rain boot falls off. She looks through the windows, some kids wave at her, and she can recognize the floor by the teachers inside. She realizes that if she doesn't let go, she'll get sucked into the Cloud of Doom, she decides to escape by the time she reaches the thirtieth story, and jumps through the window into her seat, making it to class just in time at the sacrifice of her umbrella. Mrs. Jewls notices she is there, and assumes she was sleeping the whole time. Sharie hopes she was, because otherwise her favorite umbrella would be lost, but her left rain boot is still missing.
Characters[]
Trivia[]
- This chapter could almost be seen as a parallel to "Sharie" from the first book. In that instance, Sharie falls out the window to the ground, while here, Sharie is lifted from the ground to Mrs. Jewls's class.
- Interestingly, this chapter is similar to the ending of the cartoon episode "Imperfect Attendance," where a helium-filled ball allows Dana to reach class early.
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