Writer's Statement: The reason why I named the short story “Drops of Gold” is because in the story when it began to rain on this girl, a young man came to the rescue and he later turned out to be a figure of golden dust. Originally the story was called “Yellow in the Rain,” but I later realized that it needs a better name to suit the story. During this pandemic people haven’t been allowed to go hangout with their friends at restaurants or cafes and since in the dream she had gone with her friends it only shows that misses the way things were. Although she does wake up in a university’s library, you could say she was there the day before they closed it down. The reason why I chose to submit this story is because I based it off this dream I had that I haven’t forgotten for months. In the original dream the young man was one of my celebrity crushes and all we did was hold hands in the rain with a yellow umbrella. I remember in my dream that when it was raining everything seemed so sparkly and even more colorful when he arrived to save the day. What I want the audience to get out of this story is that they’ll know when they’re with the right person, friend or otherwise, when all your troubles seem to disappear.
The girl sat by the window drinking her black coffee while all her friends were sitting on the couch talking about whatever there is to talk about. She rolls her eyes as she hears them talk about their special someone and she looks out the clear glass window into the gloomy alley. She decides to step out for a breath of fresh air and away from everyone else. Suddenly, it begins to rain heavily and she attempts to use her arms as a defense from the rain. All of a sudden a young man sweeps in with a bright yellow umbrella, shielding them both from the rain. Time slows down as he holds her hand and the faint chatter of the people in the cafe becomes a distant whisper. The rain slows down and the wind picks up carrying the faint music of a violin.
The young man places one of her hands on his shoulder and with his umbrella he holds her other hand. They dance to the soft music of the violin that becomes more vivid with each step. They twirl around and she begins to notice that his features are of no other human being. He too begins to notice the bright sparkles dancing in her eyes, and the once dull alley begins to shimmer from the rain. The bright yellow umbrella illuminates their faces to a warm glow. All the faded signs around them become fluorescent and the lifeless ‘cafe’ sign ablazes to a brilliant, neon blue. Each step they danced was as elegant as two swans. The young man with ethereal features lifts her up and twirls her around.
She closes her eyes and a sudden gust of warmth surrounds her. She opens her eyes and sees that the handsome young man is a figure made of shimmering golden dust. He sets her back to the ground and his striking features return enough for her to recognize him. He simply asks while looking through the windows to her soul, “Is that a freckle underneath your eye?” She looks at him strangely and suddenly everything goes dark. She was shaken awake from her unusually vivid dream, for she had fallen asleep in the university’s library.
She looks up to see who woke her and sees someone familiar. The radiant rays of sunlight shine through the huge windows and block the girl’s view of the person who woke her. He comes closer and she realizes that his eyes have shimmering specks of gold in them, and that his striking features are of no other man she’s seen. Except one He then gasps and says “I don’t know why I feel the need to say this, but is that a freckle underneath your eye?”