When a resilient teenager meets a stranger leads to the gift of a rare umbrella, Hope's wishes for validation clash with societal expectations. As the rain falls, they must confront the choice between conformity or authenticity. True acceptance come...
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Weathers are like the emotions of a human being. There are days when one's smile shines brighter than the sun, or days where one's tears can rain cats and dogs. Yet, unlike the weather, humans can't easily show the storm that lays dormant in their hearts. Living in a society that disdained people from being real and authentic lit a question inside Hope that they begged to ask: when will the sun come out? After all, just like how the clouds hide the sun, Hope always hides from despair until they no longer can.
"Ugh, when will this rain stop?" Hope ponders to themself. It's already twelve o'clock and the quiet but resilient teenager is still waiting for the rain to end outside, while the clock on their wall continues to make a ticking sound for every second that passes by. Hope doesn't want to go outside just yet; they can't risk having to dry their jacket for how many hours again. What's worse is the amount of nonsense Hope had to deal with whenever someone older than them talks about how rebellious young people are in today's generation.
"Their outfit is too loud," an adult told his friend after he saw a teenage boy who wore a pink sweater with white pants and a few hair clips days ago. What does too loud even mean? Hope wondered, as they stared at the sky from their bedroom window. However, they are already used to this behavior. After all, the people in the city are still following the old ways, where males wore blue while females wore pink on a daily basis. It was rare, and even discouraged, for someone to wear beyond what they are used to seeing in general.
While they continued to ponder about what loud clothing meant, the rain finally calmed down. The daydreaming kid immediately snapped out of their usual shower thoughts and used this opportunity to grab a bite at the store. The sky was still cloudy from the rain and the area seemed to be stuck in time. It didn't help that bystanders were in their usual blue and pink clothing.
As the hungry teenager got to the store, they thought of buying a popsicle, but bought cup noodles instead because of the temperature outside. Once they paid and had the noodles packed in a small plastic bag from the counter, they left the store and didn't realize that the rain started falling again. Shoot, they thought. They were about to make a run for it but then they were stopped by a stranger. As he turned to Hope, he noticed the amount of rain drops on their clothes.
"Here, have my umbrella? I don't need it but you do," he said in a calm tone, covering his head with the hoodie. He looked familiar. It was the boy the older men were talking about from the store days ago.
"Thank you," Hope said, still looking stunned from the sudden realization. The boy smiled as he left and walked across the other street.
Hope noticed something rare from their right hand. They were given a rainbow umbrella. It had twelve unique colors. They liked it since it was beautiful and began walking home with an amazed expression. I guess my wish was granted today.
