When you hear the sound of rain you probably think of gloomy skies, thunder, or pajamas, but I think of the beast under the umbrella.

Ever since I was a little girl I had loved to play outside even when it rained. I would splash in the muddy puddles, make friends with the slimy worms, and watch the light dance across the sky.

One day I was outside in the rain. My mother was sitting on our front porch rocking back and forth on the white wooden rocking chair. It was a falls day, just a few days before Halloween.

I was helping a green little frog cross the street. I named him Freddy. To me as a little girl, Freddy seemed lost. I was a hero helping Freddy find his way home and saving the day.

I had finally got Freddy across the street when I heard my mom scream, “Get in here now!” I turn around and there is a strange thing with a black umbrella and a black coat lurching towards me.

It wasn’t a man it was a monster. A pale green thing. With turquoise eyes and no pupils. The beast had no hair or eyebrows. His nose was missing, just a giant endless black hole in the middle of his face. He had a light grey mask from his mouth going down into his coat. With a turquoise butterfly happily sitting on his green wrinkled hand.

I ran for my life. I thought that thing was gonna eat me. The beast just stared into my soul as I darted for my mom. My mom dashed for the door, grabbed my arm, and yanked me inside. She then slammed the door and locked the door.

I dashed behind the couch. My mom scurried for the pots and pans in the kitchen ready to attack. There was banging from the front door. She waited with me behind the couch. We were both petrified to move.

I was crying in my mom’s arms she just kept whispering to me very calmly, “Everything is going to be okay.”

Ten minutes went by and the beast just continued, bang, bang, bang. My mom slowly crept towards the telephone to call the police. The second she picked up the phone the banging stopped.

My mom tiptoed towards the door with the pots and pans clenched in each hand ready to attack. She looked out the window and it was gone. Nowhere in sight, it disappeared into thin air.

When my dad got home from work, he didn't believe my mom or me, nobody did. I know what I saw it was a monster, a beast, a nightmare. Whatever we saw that day is a mystery that no one believes. I don’t even believe myself and I saw it.

Ever since that day, I have been scared to stick a finger out that door. I never played in the rain ever again. Getting the mail is like walking through a horror movie.

Twenty years later I am still scared to leave my mom's house. I always feel like someone is watching me. I wonder what happened to that thing or if it was just in our heads, but we never saw the beast under the umbrella ever again.