The Umbrella

"I'm late," she muttered exasperatedly to herself. 
"... again! This is unbelievable!"
And she tried to walk more briskly than before. 
"Darn rain. As if I don't have enough problems already. Why can't you cut me some slack?! Huh!?" she angrily yelled at the gloomy skies above her head.
"And this umbrella won't cooperate, too! Great!" as she remembered how the gadget refused to close when she was about to board the jeepney a few minutes ago.
At that moment, though, the girl was walking by the side of the road and trying not to lose the said gadget to the strong winds. 
Then she spied a small and slightly slumped figure ahead of her... trying to hold on to the only protection she could find to keep out the relentless drizzle--a small unmarked plastic shopping bag. 
Gripped by guilt, the girl was suddenly speechless and a little humbled, all at the same time. 
Then an idea struck her as suddenly as the speechlessness did. She half-walked-half-ran to the stooped figure. 
"Manang... uhm, excuse me. You can have my... umbrella. My office is... quite near here. I have no problem... running there." she haltingly said, trying to smile, although she felt very much like crying.
"Huh? Oh you can just walk me over there to that corner. I just need to cross the road."
"No, you take this. It's no problem."
"But what about you?"
"It's okay, I can just buy another one at that store nearby. No biggie."
"Really?!" the old woman exclaimed as she sported a confused--but amazingly warm---smile. She smiled so brilliantly, in fact, that the girl felt teary-eyed again.
"Yes. No problem."
"Well, we can walk together until we get to your building anyway."
"Okay!"
"Are you really going to give this to me?" the old woman asked again, still doubting the girl's intentions.
"Yes."
"Is this some sort of an early Christmas present?" She smiled again.
The girl only smiled back as she felt her heart constrict with guilt again. 
When they arrived near the girl's destination, the woman thanked her again and the girl smiled and said "You're welcome! Take care, Manang!"
And the girl ran to her building with a light heart and a slightly watery grin on her face. 


So the whole point of this corny story is that you should be grateful for what you have and stop being such a darn whiner, Line! :P