the first on the fifteenth:

there is an elderly man who often passes by my building with a yellow umbrella. i have noticed that he always has the umbrella even when there is not a cloud in the sky. one day i was terribly lonely and decided to stop him and ask about this.

"why do you carry an umbrella in the sun?" i inquired politely as i could.

the man smiled with crooked teeth.

"because," he said softly, "this world is so big and i am so small."

and then he slowly walked away, leaving me with my mouth agape and my heart lightened somehow.