📖 Story
Dana had a beautiful yellow umbrella, the color of the sun, with little pictures of white ducks swimming in circles. Her grandmother gave it to her on the first day of winter and said, "This umbrella will keep you dry in the rain, Dana, and it will make grey days bright and yellow." Dana loved her umbrella very much, and every morning she looked out of the window and asked her mother, "Will it rain today, Mama? I want to open my yellow umbrella!"
On Sunday morning Dana woke to the sound of rain. She ran to the window and saw grey clouds filling the sky and drops falling and making little puddles in the street. Dana clapped. "It's umbrella day!" She put on her red coat and her green rubber boots, picked up her little bag and opened her yellow umbrella at the front door: fwoosh! She walked with her mother to kindergarten, jumping over the little puddles: splash, splash!
At kindergarten, Miss Salwa the teacher stood at the door, smiling at the children. "Good morning, my dears! Today we have a new friend called Leen. She has come with her family from a faraway city. Please welcome her." Dana looked and saw a little girl with two long braids and sad eyes standing in a corner of the classroom, holding her bag tightly and saying nothing. Some of the children said, "Hello, Leen!" and then ran off to the blocks corner and the coloring corner. But Leen stayed where she was, looking at the floor.
The morning went by. The children played, sang the days-of-the-week song and ate their breakfast. Dana noticed that Leen was sitting alone at the end of the table, eating her sandwich slowly and not talking to anyone. Dana thought, "Why is she sad?" Then she remembered her own first day at kindergarten, when she had been scared and missed her mother and didn't know anyone. She remembered how her heart had felt as small as a chickpea. She also remembered the kind girl Sama who had come up to her that day, given her a green crayon and said, "Draw with me." That day Dana had felt her heart grow a little, and kindergarten had become a nicer place. So Dana said to herself, "Maybe Leen needs a green crayon too, or something else that will make her heart grow."
At noon Miss Salwa said, "Come on, children, the day is over, and your families are waiting for you at the gate across the yard." But it was still raining, the yard was wide and the gate was far away. The children took out their umbrellas: a blue umbrella, a red umbrella, one with stars, and a clear one like a soap bubble. Dana took out her yellow umbrella and opened it: fwoosh! She looked around and saw Leen standing under the doorway roof, looking at the rain, without an umbrella.
Dana went up to her. "Where's your umbrella, Leen?" Leen answered very quietly, "I forgot it at home. We moved to a new house, and all our things are still in boxes." Then she looked at the rainy yard and said, "My dress will get wet, and so will the drawing book where I drew our old house." A small tear appeared in her eye.
Dana looked at her yellow umbrella. She loved it very much and had never shared it with anyone before. She thought for a moment: what if my shoulder gets wet? What if it's too crowded under the umbrella? But she looked at Leen's sad eyes and remembered her grandmother's words: this umbrella makes grey days bright and yellow. So Dana said with a big smile, "Come under my umbrella, Leen! There's room for two, and it has ducks that love new friends."
Leen looked up in surprise. "Really?" "Really!" said Dana, and she took her hand. Leen came closer, and the two girls stood under the yellow umbrella, shoulder to shoulder. "When I count to three, we walk together," said Dana. "One, two, three!" And they walked across the rainy yard, step by step, while the rain tapped on the umbrella, tap, tap, tap, as if it were clapping for them.
On the way they came to a big puddle. "Do you know the duck game?" asked Dana. "We jump over the puddle and say 'Quack!'" Leen laughed for the first time since the morning. "I don't know it. Teach me!" So they counted together and jumped: "Quack!" A few drops landed on their shoes, and they laughed even more. Then Dana asked, "What did you draw in your book?" "I drew our old house," said Leen, "and the mulberry tree in front of it, and our orange cat." "I love drawing!" said Dana. "Will you draw me the cat tomorrow?" Leen smiled. "Yes, and I'll draw your yellow umbrella too!"
At the gate Dana's mother was waiting, and Leen's mother was standing next to her, searching anxiously for her daughter. When she saw Leen coming along laughing under the yellow umbrella, her heart was at ease. She ran to her and hugged her, then said to Dana, "Thank you, little one. I was worried because Leen doesn't know anyone here yet." "Now she knows me!" said Dana. The two girls looked at each other and laughed.
Dana's left shoulder got a little wet, because the umbrella had been tilted towards Leen the whole way. At home her mother noticed and said, as she dried her shoulder with a towel, "Your shoulder is wet, Dana." Dana smiled. "It's all right, Mama. My shoulder got a little wet, but my heart got very warm." Her mother kissed her and said, "That's the most beautiful thing you did today." In the evening Dana called her grandmother and told her the whole story: about shy Leen, the puddle and the duck game, and the wet shoulder. Her grandmother laughed happily and said, "Didn't I tell you this umbrella makes grey days bright and yellow? But it can't do that by itself, my darling. It needs a generous heart like yours to carry it."
The next morning the sun was shining, and nobody needed an umbrella. Dana walked into the classroom and found Leen waiting for her at the door with a piece of paper in her hand. "This is for you!" said Leen. It was a drawing of a big yellow umbrella with two girls holding hands underneath it, white ducks all around them, an orange cat and a smiling sun. Miss Salwa hung the drawing on the class board and wrote beside it: Two friends under one umbrella.
From that day on Dana and Leen sat together at breakfast, played together in the drawing corner and taught the other children the duck game. On rainy days Leen carried her new green umbrella and walked beside Dana and her yellow one, so from far away the two of them looked like two flowers walking across the yard. Leen no longer stood alone in the corner. Instead she became the first to welcome any new child who came to kindergarten, saying, "Come and play with us!"
Dana learned that sharing does not make what we have smaller; it makes our happiness bigger. She learned that a new child needs an outstretched hand and a kind word, and that a small space we share with someone else, even under an umbrella, can become the beginning of a beautiful friendship that lasts a long time.
On Sunday morning Dana woke to the sound of rain. She ran to the window and saw grey clouds filling the sky and drops falling and making little puddles in the street. Dana clapped. "It's umbrella day!" She put on her red coat and her green rubber boots, picked up her little bag and opened her yellow umbrella at the front door: fwoosh! She walked with her mother to kindergarten, jumping over the little puddles: splash, splash!
At kindergarten, Miss Salwa the teacher stood at the door, smiling at the children. "Good morning, my dears! Today we have a new friend called Leen. She has come with her family from a faraway city. Please welcome her." Dana looked and saw a little girl with two long braids and sad eyes standing in a corner of the classroom, holding her bag tightly and saying nothing. Some of the children said, "Hello, Leen!" and then ran off to the blocks corner and the coloring corner. But Leen stayed where she was, looking at the floor.
The morning went by. The children played, sang the days-of-the-week song and ate their breakfast. Dana noticed that Leen was sitting alone at the end of the table, eating her sandwich slowly and not talking to anyone. Dana thought, "Why is she sad?" Then she remembered her own first day at kindergarten, when she had been scared and missed her mother and didn't know anyone. She remembered how her heart had felt as small as a chickpea. She also remembered the kind girl Sama who had come up to her that day, given her a green crayon and said, "Draw with me." That day Dana had felt her heart grow a little, and kindergarten had become a nicer place. So Dana said to herself, "Maybe Leen needs a green crayon too, or something else that will make her heart grow."
At noon Miss Salwa said, "Come on, children, the day is over, and your families are waiting for you at the gate across the yard." But it was still raining, the yard was wide and the gate was far away. The children took out their umbrellas: a blue umbrella, a red umbrella, one with stars, and a clear one like a soap bubble. Dana took out her yellow umbrella and opened it: fwoosh! She looked around and saw Leen standing under the doorway roof, looking at the rain, without an umbrella.
Dana went up to her. "Where's your umbrella, Leen?" Leen answered very quietly, "I forgot it at home. We moved to a new house, and all our things are still in boxes." Then she looked at the rainy yard and said, "My dress will get wet, and so will the drawing book where I drew our old house." A small tear appeared in her eye.
Dana looked at her yellow umbrella. She loved it very much and had never shared it with anyone before. She thought for a moment: what if my shoulder gets wet? What if it's too crowded under the umbrella? But she looked at Leen's sad eyes and remembered her grandmother's words: this umbrella makes grey days bright and yellow. So Dana said with a big smile, "Come under my umbrella, Leen! There's room for two, and it has ducks that love new friends."
Leen looked up in surprise. "Really?" "Really!" said Dana, and she took her hand. Leen came closer, and the two girls stood under the yellow umbrella, shoulder to shoulder. "When I count to three, we walk together," said Dana. "One, two, three!" And they walked across the rainy yard, step by step, while the rain tapped on the umbrella, tap, tap, tap, as if it were clapping for them.
On the way they came to a big puddle. "Do you know the duck game?" asked Dana. "We jump over the puddle and say 'Quack!'" Leen laughed for the first time since the morning. "I don't know it. Teach me!" So they counted together and jumped: "Quack!" A few drops landed on their shoes, and they laughed even more. Then Dana asked, "What did you draw in your book?" "I drew our old house," said Leen, "and the mulberry tree in front of it, and our orange cat." "I love drawing!" said Dana. "Will you draw me the cat tomorrow?" Leen smiled. "Yes, and I'll draw your yellow umbrella too!"
At the gate Dana's mother was waiting, and Leen's mother was standing next to her, searching anxiously for her daughter. When she saw Leen coming along laughing under the yellow umbrella, her heart was at ease. She ran to her and hugged her, then said to Dana, "Thank you, little one. I was worried because Leen doesn't know anyone here yet." "Now she knows me!" said Dana. The two girls looked at each other and laughed.
Dana's left shoulder got a little wet, because the umbrella had been tilted towards Leen the whole way. At home her mother noticed and said, as she dried her shoulder with a towel, "Your shoulder is wet, Dana." Dana smiled. "It's all right, Mama. My shoulder got a little wet, but my heart got very warm." Her mother kissed her and said, "That's the most beautiful thing you did today." In the evening Dana called her grandmother and told her the whole story: about shy Leen, the puddle and the duck game, and the wet shoulder. Her grandmother laughed happily and said, "Didn't I tell you this umbrella makes grey days bright and yellow? But it can't do that by itself, my darling. It needs a generous heart like yours to carry it."
The next morning the sun was shining, and nobody needed an umbrella. Dana walked into the classroom and found Leen waiting for her at the door with a piece of paper in her hand. "This is for you!" said Leen. It was a drawing of a big yellow umbrella with two girls holding hands underneath it, white ducks all around them, an orange cat and a smiling sun. Miss Salwa hung the drawing on the class board and wrote beside it: Two friends under one umbrella.
From that day on Dana and Leen sat together at breakfast, played together in the drawing corner and taught the other children the duck game. On rainy days Leen carried her new green umbrella and walked beside Dana and her yellow one, so from far away the two of them looked like two flowers walking across the yard. Leen no longer stood alone in the corner. Instead she became the first to welcome any new child who came to kindergarten, saying, "Come and play with us!"
Dana learned that sharing does not make what we have smaller; it makes our happiness bigger. She learned that a new child needs an outstretched hand and a kind word, and that a small space we share with someone else, even under an umbrella, can become the beginning of a beautiful friendship that lasts a long time.
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