Horror Short Story | The Umbrella Stand

Shen Jing's company had a shared umbrella stand by the entrance for employees to store their umbrellas on rainy days. He owned a blue folding umbrella that he'd used for years. Its ribs were a bit bent, but it was still functional. One day, during a heavy downpour, he placed his umbrella in the stand. When he left work, however, his umbrella was gone. He assumed a colleague had mistakenly taken it. The next day, he asked in the company group chat, but no one responded. He had to buy a new one from a convenience store, a black one. The following day, it rained again. He put his new umbrella in the stand. When he left work, the new umbrella was still there, but next to it was a blue folding umbrella. It was his original one. He picked it up to inspect it. The ribs were still bent, and there was a small stain on the fabric, exactly like his old one. He found it strange but didn't think much of it, taking both umbrellas home. For the next few days, he brought his new umbrella to work and placed it in the stand. When he left, there would always be an old umbrella added to the stand. Each one was different – red, yellow, plaid – but they all shared the same characteristic: bent ribs and a stained fabric. He took these umbrellas home, and his balcony began to fill up with over a dozen of them. One day, out of curiosity, he flipped over the inside of one of the umbrellas. A name was written on the underside of the fabric in a marker pen. He checked the company directory and found that the name belonged to an employee who had left the company five years ago. He looked at the other umbrellas. Each one had a name written inside, all belonging to employees who had left in different years. He searched one of the names online and found an old news article. That employee had been hit by a car outside the company five years ago and died on the way to the hospital. It had been raining heavily that day, and the employee was holding a blue folding umbrella. Shen Jing froze and continued searching for the other names. He found information for each one.