The Tooting Umbrella

As a playful breeze blew across the yard, Maja found something glittering behind the bike stand. It was an umbrella! Not just any umbrella, but one with striped fabric in all colors and a handle that looked like a crooked banana.

"Oh, how nice!" said Maja and pressed the button.

PFFFT!

The umbrella opened with a happy tooting sound that made Maja's hair puff up like cotton candy. A pile of leaves lifted slightly, and the cat, Swoosh, jumped straight up like a rocket.

"That wasn't me," said Maja quickly and looked around. "It was the umbrella!"

Her neighbor, Ali, came out with his red scooter and stopped short. "What was that trumpet?"

"It was more of a... toot-trumpet," said Maja and laughed. She held the umbrella in front of her. "Look!"

She pressed the button again.

PRAPP! PFFT! PLOP!

The umbrella made three new sounds, and a soft puff of wind blew away the hat of Baker Bo, who was just walking by. The hat sailed like a pancake and landed neatly on a mailbox.

"My hat!" called Baker Bo, but he started laughing when he saw his reflection in the shop window. "I look like a blue mailbox-pastry!"

"This umbrella is naughty," said Ali, and he felt the fabric. It tickled his fingers. "What shall we call it?"

"Puff," said Maja at once. "Because it says puff, toot, and pfft."

Puff seemed to like its name, because it gave off a little, satisfied prrrt like a kitten that accidentally ate a soap bubble.

"We'll test rhythm!" said Ali. He clapped his hands: clap, clap. Maja pressed: pfft, pfft. Soon they walked along the sidewalk, creating a kind of parade. Puff led the way. Baker Bo marched after them and tried to get back his hat, but every time Maja made pfft, the hat's brim did a little dance.

Along the way, more followed: a little dog named Ball, three ducks from the pond that said quack on beat, and a garbage truck that happened to drive by and honked twice as if it also wanted to join.

"This is the world's best toot parade!" said Maja.

"The Toot Parade Puff!" answered Ali and spun around on his scooter.

Just then, gray clouds gathered, and it began to drip. Plink. Plop. Plop-plink.

"Luckily we have an umbrella," said Maja, and she held Puff over them.

Puff opened its colorful fabric. But instead of just stopping the rain, it sprayed small drops back, like carbonated water. Maja's nose got a spotted rain mustache, Ali's bangs curled, and the ducks looked like shiny soap bubbles.

"Oops!" said Ali, blinked water from his eyes, and laughed. "This is an inside-out umbrella!"

"We must steer Puff," said Maja. She tilted the umbrella a little to the left. Pfft! The drops bounced to the right. She tilted to the right. Pfft! The drops hopped to the left. Soon they had a rain dance where all the drops hopped crisscross like small, happy frogs.

The garbage truck stopped nearby, and the driver stuck out his head. "What's happening here?" he called, but smiled when he saw the gang. "Can I join?"

"Sure!" called Maja. "You honk the beat!"

Toot-toot! Pfft-pfft! Clap-clap! Quack-quack!

The parade swung into the park. But an especially playful gust of wind grabbed Puff. The umbrella pulled away like a colorful balloon. Maja held tight to the handle, Ali grabbed Maja's jacket, and the dog, Ball, grabbed Ali's shoelace. Everyone slid half a meter forward, and puff! They landed in a huge leaf pile that smelled of forest and apple peels.

"I'm a lasagna of leaves," said Ali with a leaf mustache.

"I'm a whole salad!" said Maja and shook out a leaf from her sleeve.

Puff jerked as if it laughed. Then it held still, and the rain became kind and soft.

"You, Puff," said Maja and patted the handle, "you need a leash."

They found an old red ribbon in Maja's pocket and tied it around the handle. "There," said Ali, "now we have an umbrella leash."

They walked around the park and let Puff toot small, happy puffs. They helped Baker Bo rescue his hat from the mailbox and gave it a little toot-nudge so it landed straight and nice.

When the clouds slid away and the sun glittered in wet branches, Maja and Ali sat on a bench. Puff stood beside them like a colorful mushroom.

"What do we do tomorrow?" asked Ali.

"Tomorrow," said Maja, "we'll practice soft pffts. And maybe a long prapp so the ducks can hold out their tones."

Puff answered with a shy pfftt that sounded exactly like a little laugh.

"Good plan," said Ali. "The Toot Parade continues!"

They went home through the yard, with the umbrella leash in hand and leaves in their shoes, and were completely, completely sure of one thing: the world becomes funnier with a tooting umbrella.