She walked silently down the empty street, an umbrella in hand.

It was a harsh night, uncommon during the current summer season. Yet, this summer was neither gentle nor warm, at least not to her. The darkness of the night was deepened by the clouds that shrouded over her, showering her body with chilling rain drops. Through the howling wind surrounding her, she could barely make out the drip-dropping of water pellets against her umbrella.

She held on more tightly to the umbrella in her hand...

...yet she was soaked to the bone. The rain had gotten through her mess of dark hair, through her shirt, through her jeans and through her sneakers and socks. She was absolutely drenched.

With the ferocious weather, the cold of the night should have cut into her deep. Yet her skin had already turned numb and she didn't feel a thing.

Her steps halted as she stood in the middle of the deserted street, not a soul in sight. She was utterly alone and with good reason. Who would be out in this weather? The emptiness came as a relief to her; she couldn't bear to be with anyone at the moment.

For a while she just stood there. Her hands started shaking first. Before long, her whole body was shivering as if it was newly acquainted with the cold. Her mind still hadn't processed it though, as she couldn't figure out the reason for her body's involuntary movement. She simply stared out in front of her, at nothing in particular.

Why am I wet? she suddenly wondered, remembering once more that she was holding an umbrella. She turned her gaze up towards it, trying to find the solution to her puzzle.

The umbrella she held was an old one. The black plastic of the crook handle was bent and chipped - from being the toy in some dog's mouth, no doubt - and the metal shaft was rusting away, tinged in orange and red. The canopy was originally a bright white, decorated with dots of diverse neon colours. Now, under the years of greeting the rain, the white had subdued to a pale yellow; the neon colours had lost their bright charm. Some tips of the canopy had come loose, riding up the stretcher and scrunching up. In truth, the aged and ugly umbrella offered no protection from the showers.

Abruptly, a powerful gust of wind came at her, flipping the umbrella as it shook and wavered in her hands. She held tightly to the handle, baring the cruelness of the weather all on her own. When the wind had passed, she stared at her ratty old umbrella - flipped, scrunched up and useless.

The sight tore her apart.

Tears welled up in her eyes as she finally exploded. She threw the umbrella to the ground, letting out a grunt of frustration.

"Stupid umbrella! What use are you?!?" she shouted at it, fully aware it could not respond back. "Look at me, I'm soaked!! I thought you were supposed to keep me from getting wet!"

Her voice heightened as her heart beat faster. One by one, hot tears came streaming down her face. She wiped at them, even though her face was soaked from the rain to begin with.

"You're the only umbrella I have. How can you..." she stopped to let out a sob. "How can you break down on me like this?? In a storm like this?? Don't you see I need you???"

Nonsense. She was spewing out nonsense.

She wiped furiously at her eyes before walking up to the abandoned umbrella. She stared down on it hard, trying to calm down.

"I still need you! Don't break down on me. Don't leave me. Whose going to take care of me?" she yelled at the umbrella again, sinking to the ground when she was finished.

She felt the dampness of the puddles through her jeans, the cement hard and unforgiving. Her nails scratched at the rough surface of the ground as she tightly balled up her fists.

Mom... she thought, biting harshly on her bottom lip.

"You're... the only one I have..." she muttered, lowering her head and letting the tears flow freely.

Why? Why had it been her mother? Out of all the people in the world, why had it been her flesh and blood to be cursed... with cancer?

It was just her and her mother in the world.

And now it would only be her.

Her mother had put up a strong fight, the doctors had told her. But unfortunately, there was nothing more they could do. The odds were just against her. And she was going to die. Her mother was going to die.

She remembered her mom's face in the hospital, all worn and tired and concerned. She then looked at the umbrella, also at the end of its lifespan, and couldn't help but compare.

The umbrella had been a gift from her mother and she cherished it, spending much efforts to fix the cheap umbrella every time it broke, over and over again.

Yet it was no use.

She let out a cry, her voice drowned out by the pouring rain. She was crying with all her heart, but she could no longer tell if it was the tears wetting her face or if it was the rain. It only made her heart ache even more.

Her future was as dark as this stormy night.

"How am I going to stay dry without you?" she asked weakly at what was left of her pitifully broken umbrella. She looked just as pitiful, soaked in the rain.

Her body remembered the cold again and started to shake violently. Her mind too, started to acknowledge the low temperature now. She wrapped her arms around her body, feeling ice cold skin touch ice cold skin. The rain felt like needles, jabbing at her flesh relentlessly.

She didn't know what she could do to ease the pain. It seemed like there was no way. Then... the thought of falling asleep, right then and there, seemed suddenly much more welcoming. Staying out in weather like this for the whole night could only lead to one destination, if she was lucky. To escape from what she had to face when morning came didn't seem so cowardly anymore. She began to close her eyes slowly...

But the needles attacking her skin stopped. The rain was no longer pounding into her. Instead, she heard the sound of faint drumming.

She opened her eyes again, wondering if she was already dreaming.

She saw a pair of sneakers in front of her. Her eyes followed the length of the legs, looking up. When her gaze reached their destination, a face greeted her.

A boy's face, to be exact. He had short, dirty blonde hair, with a slight grey tone to it. A tall nose bridge. Thick eyebrows. Full, pink lips. Lean jaw line. She saw a small hint of a tattoo on his neck, not fully covered by his t-shirt. But his eyes... his eyes were so beautiful that she was nearly gawking at him. His eyes were slightly narrow, with long lashes as frames. His iris was tinted dark, specks of jewel blue showing now and then. It was the most bizarre phenomenon she had seen in a person's eyes.

When he noticed her staring at him as they made eye contact, he gave her a small smile. He crouched down in front of her so they were at eye level. She saw the umbrella handle in his hand; he was the reason that the rain no longer poured on her frail body. He was holding the umbrella over her, getting showered on by the rain himself.

He looked at her, glanced at the deserted umbrella on the ground, then back at her again.

"You could get a new umbrella," he told her softly - warmly. He grabbed her dirty, wet hands from the sides of her body. Her eyes followed his motion as he gently loosened her fingers with his own. The boy placed the handle of the umbrella to her palm and wrapped his hands around hers, so the fingers followed the motion and gripped the handle. When she was holding onto his umbrella all on her own, the boy let go of her hands and grinned at her.

"My gift to you."

His smiling face and gentle voice almost made her feel warm again.