A Twist of Fate

An echo of thunder rumbled outside as a massive downpour of rain showered the earth. In the safety of the dry house that sheltered them, three girls watched the rainfall from the window of their living room. At least, they did for a minute or two, then they got bored.

"What a drag," Flower groaned as she laid back on the couch. "Really wish we could go somewhere or do something with our time. Staying in one room is so boring."

Gumi and Lily were sitting on the floor in front of the couch Flower sulked on. They owned the house they were staying in, but Flower frequently came over to hang out with the pair. Usually, the three would spend time at a mall or go to see some local attraction, but given the nature of the weather, they were stuck indoors for the day.

"It's okay, Flower!" Gumi said in her usual cheerful attitude. "There's lots of stuff we can do to pass the time in here! Lily and I always keep ourselves busy, don't we?"

Gumi nudged the blonde girl sitting next to her. Unfortunately, Lily's opinions on the situation were more in line with Flower's. A free spirit like her did not enjoy being cooped up. Even so, she enjoyed seeing Gumi's smile and she wanted to keep it for as long as she could. To keep her friend happy, she tried to lie.

"Yeah, being inside is great. Woo, I sure love being inside!" Lily was a terrible liar.

"Aww, don't be like that!" Gumi saw through Lily's facade and stood up from the floor. "Here's a question for ya. What do we normally do on a rainy day?"

"When you figure that out, let me know," Lily leaned back against the couch and grumbled.

"No, I know you know it! Come on, let's visit the closet of wonders!"

"Oh god, the closet of wonders..."

Suddenly, Flower felt intrigued. She rose from the couch and sat upright.

"What's in the closet of wonders? I'm up for anything that'll get rid of this boredom."

"Lily's just being silly. She loves the closet of wonders!" Gumi said as she lowered one of her hands toward the girl on the floor. "Don'tcha, Lily?"

From the carpet, Lily took one look at Gumi's hand, then sighed.

"I do, but you know how I can be when it comes to stuff like that. I don't want to scare Flower away."

"Trust me, anything that could even slightly scare me would be totally worth it right now," Flower retorted.

With nothing to lose, Lily took Gumi's hand and allowed the green-haired girl to lift her from the floor. When she rose to her feet, Gumi excitedly motioned to a closet at the far end of the living room, right next to the hallway. Flower had seen the closet many times, but she never cared to take a gander inside. She curiously stood up from the couch to join the pair of pals as they headed for the peculiar door.

Once all three of the friends were gathered in front of it, Gumi swung the closet of wonders open to unveil what she had inside. For the most part, it was nothing too interesting. A few jackets and dresses were hanging on a rack as they would in a typical closet, but nothing stood out at an immediate glance.

Then Gumi kneeled down in front of the bottom shelf where numerous boxes were stacked. Lily kneeled beside her and Flower tried to look over their shoulders to see what the boxes contained. As Gumi started reaching for them, it became apparent that they were board games.

"Here we are! These will keep us occupied until the storm blows over," Gumi excitedly gripped the box at the very top.

"Board games? You can't be serious," Flower groaned in disappointment. "If that's what you're doing, leave me out of it."