When they were children, Samantha and Jim would play in the garden row behind the houses in their lane. They would jump over the mossy stone walls that divided one plot from the next, and in landing crush to death the poor flowers on the other side. They would roll and laugh in the dirt and mud, and every once in a while splash in a puddle of rain. They were friends, and had been ever since their parents first moved next to one another in the tiny Northampton neighborhood.
One day, after a particularly miserable storm, the children set off down through the gardens. Weaving their way between hedges and rose bushes, they came upon an old wrought-iron gate they'd never seen before. It led outside of the gardens towards the blackened skeleton of an old red brick house that looked just about ready to collapse. The rusted gate dangled from one hinge, and shrieked like an old cat when they pulled it open.
They wandered through the ruins for a few minutes, but found only charred and splintered bits of wood, broken beams, and shattered brick. Even worse, there was an indescribable quality to the old building that made them feel unwell. Just as they turned around to leave, their curiosity more than sated, they were stopped in their tracks by the strangest of sights: a tall black umbrella hung open in the air in front of them, as if supported by the wind itself.
"It's just like Mary Poppins!" said Samantha, and Jim agreed. Being of an adventurous sort, the children grabbed hold of the big curved handle, and sure enough were whisked off into the air over the gardens, then the houses, and before long the entire city.
Over the next few years, the children spent many a wonderful and breathless afternoon soaring in the skies above their town. No one ever seemed to notice them, which made them relish all the more the private thrill of seeing the world fall away. And bound by the knowledge of their secret joy, their friendship grew and grew.
The first few times they returned from flying, exhausted and giddy, the children simply left the umbrella among the rubble where they had found it. In time, though, they became nervous that it might get stolen, and so took turns keeping it at each other's houses. Many years passed in this way, and all was well.
When they were older and preparing for University - Samantha to Oxford and Jim to London - they had their first real fight over the umbrella. Both wanted it, and neither would relent. They argued so terribly that one night they almost came to blows. With tears of frustration streaming down their faces, they agreed through clenched teeth that the umbrella would be best stored in a locked box in Samantha's basement, while Jim kept the combination.
And so, bitter and hurt, they packed up their things and went their respective ways. Many years would pass before they spoke to each other again; but they never forgot about the umbrella, or the agreement they had made.
It came to pass that both of them found love in the same year. Samantha met a shy but brilliant mathematician, and Jim found himself a talented actress. Each of them began to think about the umbrella, and how perfect a wedding present it would make. So they called each other up, and thus began their second terrible fight.
It lasted for many weeks. They each desperately wanted the umbrella, and their fury was heightened by the many years they'd each spent without knowing the thrill of flying freely above the world. They brought lawyers into the dispute, and then took it to court - though the judge could not account for why anyone would care so profoundly for a simple household object. It was, in any case, decided in Samantha's favour, since she possessed the object itself, though not the means of accessing it. Jim was ordered by the court to provide Samantha the combination, or else rumunerate her for the cost of legal council. Jim relented.
Samantha, victorious, returned to her parent's Northampton home to retrieve the umbrella. What she found, instead, was a burned red brick building, covered in soot and ash, and just on the brink of falling over. Jim vehemently denied any involvement in the fire, and was duly acquitted after a brief investigation by the police identified faulty wiring as the probable cause. Even so, Samantha and Jim never spoke after the incident. Nor did either of them ever see their beloved umbrella again.
