I turned in my bed but felt something strange beside me. I opened my eyes, and saw Mister Umbrella sleeping right next to me.
Right next to me. He was sleeping on top of the covers, but he was lying on my bed. I backed up quickly almost losing my balance off the bed. I caught myself, but the movement woke him up. His hand grabbed me before I fell off.
"Are you okay, Jewelsy?" His voice was innocent, like there was nothing wrong with a man lying next to me in bed. I got back on the bed, glad that I had put a long shirt on tonight, but wishing I had actually put some shorts on beneath it.
"What are you doing?"
"Sleeping," Mister Umbrella said, as if I was the one who bothered him. "At least I was until you woke me up. What's wrong?"
"You're sleeping in my bed." I tried to remain calm, remembering that he wasn't a typical man.
"Yes, it's quite comfortable," he said pointing to the bed. "Not as comfortable as a cloud, but not too bad." He smiled and reached out pushing my hair back behind my ear. "Nothing is bad at all. Perhaps it is sleeping with company, but your bed is quite cozy. I never slept with anyone before."
The word in society would have a different meaning, but I knew what he meant. "I don't remember you ever sleeping next to me before."
"Heavens no, you were a child." He waved the notion off. "Your bed would be too small. Besides, I often sleep in the sky. Unless I am working, that is where you'd always find me. It's so free up there." He patted the bed. "Yet, this is the coziest I've ever felt." He turned his emerald eyes toward me. "I feel so cozy with you."
I don't know why, but my chest tightened when he said that. What was I supposed to say to that?
"I am sorry about your parents, Jewelsy. To be straight, I have no family either. Selective seers, we are all born in different ways. There is no nine months and pop, you are born. I don't remember the way I had been born. I simply exist." His funny grin appeared again. "All we do is play and make children happy. It's not a bad life."
No parents. I guess it made sense that he had never had parents. I never thought about it before. What a lonely existence. "I wish you would have stayed longer." Oh no, where did that come from? I wanted to change the subject to something else, but it was now out there.
"I know. Usually I stay for weeks or months. There have even been times that I spent a whole year with a child." His voice was lower, more thoughtful. "Yet, those days are some of the fondest I have experienced. You named me, and showed me such compassion. An understanding, a. . ." He gestured between us. "I have always felt close to you. Even when I had to leave."
The nightlight in the corner gave his skin a soft glow. I actually felt my cheeks become warm and tried to look away. This was impossible. I was not doing that, I wasn't blushing. What was wrong with me? He wasn't even human, and only I could see him.
Come to think of it, I remembered something else. Something that wasn't him. . .
"Jewelsy?"
"Do you know anybody else around me?" I had to know as my memory surged backward. I knew the letters, but there were other things. "I'm remembering. I remember. . .more and more. . ."
"When you started to believe in me again, you opened yourself back up to memories you may have forgot because of age." He scratched his ear. "Or repressed? Are you okay?"
"There were these. . ." I didn't want to tell him at first, but he knew something was wrong. My body was beginning to shiver, feeling small and helpless. My closet. Underneath the bed. The window scratching, oh god. "Letters, I have these letters and…I don't know. It's all fuzzy right now."
His arms wrapped around me tighter. Anyone else and I would be running for safety or slugging them. Why did I feel so comfortable with him? A small amount of time as a child, that was all I knew of him. How did he make such an impression on me?
"Don't worry," he said. "You will know when you're ready. Until then, I'm not going back to the sky. I will be here, right near you. No matter what. Now get some rest, Jewelsy."
"I had a dream." I was going to tell him about it, but I realized it was too real. I have an imaginary friend who saved me by touching an umbrella? Classically him. "Or did I?" I turned back around, staring into his eyes, searching for answers. "Mister Umbrella in the Sky?"
"Jewelsy, it was. . ." He didn't want to tell me, but he knew, I could tell. He touched my cheek tenderly. "It was not a dream, but you should not worry. I am here. If I could tell you why, I would, I honestly would. I know that a selective seer that is a rebel is after you." He wanted to say more, but he wouldn't spill and became tight lipped about any more details.
"My Aunt Merissa and Uncle Charles? Are they safe?" I had to ask.
"I will do my best to keep you and your loved ones safe. I promise."