Kindness

Rachel stared out of a long rectangular window.  Pitter, patter.  The rain was beating down heavily.  It was freezing cold and wet.   The raindrops fell like  daggers slicing through the skin.  Dressed in her  cheerful bright yellow and green uniform, she was ready to set off for school as usual.   She opened her lime-green umbrella and left her house.

The road was bumpy and muddy.  Puddles of rainwater collected everywhere.    Rachel had to tiptoe carefully to avoid getting her shoes wet.   Within her, she was anxious, hoping to reach on time.  The streets were peppered with passers-by.  All were making their way to the destination, some treading gingerly, others dashing hurriedly.  The strong wind blew and almost flapped Rachel’s umbrella backwards but luckily, she managed to hold onto it tightly.

All of a sudden, someone caught Rachel’s attention.  An old man with wrinkled face was sitting in a corner, leaning against the wall.  He was dirty, almost skeletal, bones jutting over his leathery, tanned skin.  He was dozing off, oblivious to the merciless rain that was  drenching him.  Perhaps, he was just too tired.  His only companion was a dented metal tin that had rusted, filled with rainwater, instead of coins.

A mob of boys gathered around him.  One came over and patted him  on his shoulder playfully.  The boy laughed but there was no response.  Another ambled over and poured the tin of rainwater over his head.  Splash.  Still,  there was no reaction.  It was no fun, teasing or jeering at him.  The boys soon moved off, tired of their jeering games, their footsteps echoing in a distance.  

A fat woman emerged from a shop beside him and yelled, “Get out of the way, old man!  You are causing me to lose business.”  “Why don’t you go and die!” she continued in a malicious tone.    Still, there was no response.  The plump woman just shook her head in disgust and stomped back into  her shop.

Rachel stood there.  She felt sorry for him.  She moved forward and placed her lime-green umbrella over his head.  There was no response.  Then, she dashed off in the rain and made her way to school.  The rain continued to pour.  Rachel was soaking wet.  Yet, her heart was warm – with kindness and compassion.

At school, Rachel got an earful from her teacher for coming to school soaking wet.  She did not even bother to explain herself.  The rain finally stopped and school finally ended.  The sun appeared, shining brilliantly in the cloudy sky again.

Rachel rushed to meet the old beggar, hoping to see him again.   When she reached there, there was no beggar, no tin.  Only the lime-green umbrella stood stoically against the grayish wall.   “Even if the old beggar had taken the umbrella, it would be perfectly alright,”  she muttered to herself and soon, she disappeared behind a busy crowd.  The sun seemed to be smiling for the rest of the day.