Mikael's Umbrella: Chapter 8

The first bad thing was that the Italian neighbors* upstairs in the hotel shouted at Mariah. "Via con rumore!" "Away with noise!" Mariah grabbed earplugs--useful for walking down the street on a sunny, clear day with her sister--out of her travel bag and inserted them into her ears. Then she remembered the day of checking into the hotel, and shivers ran down her back.
The clerk, a well-dressed man in a black suit, handed them the keys. "You're that famous movie star, aren't you," he said nonchalantly as they prepared to go up to their floor.
"We aren't the only movie star family," Mariah's mom had said. "Be more specific." In her younger days, she'd been a high school English teacher, and to this day was consistently correcting peoples' speech.
"You know, with Laurel Reeth..."
"No," said Mariah's mom, insulted. With that, she took the family's baggage and stomped toward the elevator.
"Wait, sorry..." The clerk was really trying to regain his reputation. In a final attempt, he called out,"You're on the top floor!"
The top floor. Mariah took in these words with fear. That meant...there was no one upstairs.
Mariah ran. But not before they caught her.
"Hello, Mariah," said a small but athletic girl with sleek black hair that looked surprisingly like Mikael. "Welcome to Room 304."**


*I do not speak fluent Italian. It is the result of a lucky birthday gift that I can present this story to you in multiple languages. For those of you who do speak fluent Italian, or at least passable Italian, I apologize for any incorrect grammar the phrase may contain.
**For the public, Mariah's hotel was divided into three large parts. It was an amazingly tall and thick building, and so there was sufficient room space for this. For you who happen to know the significance of Room 304, I encourage you to visit this part of my blog: Click here to view it.