One bright morning, Selena woke up. She looked at the clock; it was already 7 a.m. She got up and opened her bedroom window. The weather was beautiful and slightly humid.
A bird landed on Selena's window.
"Hey bird, good morning,"
she greeted with a smile. Selena remembered she had some corn and wanted to give it to the bird. She immediately went to the kitchen to get it, but when she returned, the bird was already gone.
"Hmm… I wanted to give this to you."
She placed the corn on the windowsill, hoping the bird would come back and enjoy it.
It crossed her mind that she had a morning class at 9 a.m. Without another thought, she quickly got ready to leave for campus.
As usual, Selena walked to campus since it wasn't too far from her house and helped save her money. On the way, she listened to music while looking down. She accidentally bumped into a man.
"Ouch… I'm sorry, sir. I didn't mean to bump into you," Selena said nervously when she realized the man's coffee had spilled on his shirt.
"It's okay, but please be more careful next time," the man replied with a flat expression.
Selena noticed that the man, neatly dressed in a shirt, didn't show any anger—just a blank expression.
He didn't ask for anything in return, just walked away.
Selena wondered why he didn't get mad or ask for compensation. After all, his clothes got dirty because of her.
She saw the man get into his car.
"A kind man," she said as she watched the car drive away.
Selena continued her walk to campus. Once she arrived, she went straight to class. The lecture ended around 12:30 p.m., and Selena immediately headed to the bakery where she worked.
When she arrived, she greeted a few coworkers.
"Hi, how are you? Hope you're having a nice day?"
she greeted one of them.
"Of course, especially since my boyfriend just proposed to me…"
she said while showing off a ring clipped in her hair.
"Wow, congratulations,"
Selena said with a happy smile.
"And you?"
the coworker asked.
"Me? Hmm… I'm okay today, but I had a small accident this morning."
"WHAT… REALLY? ARE YOU HURT??"
the coworker asked her in shock.
"No, I'm fine… I just bumped into someone and made his shirt dirty."
"Ah… that's a relief. Oh, did he ask for anything in return?"
"No… he just said, 'It's okay, but be more careful next time,'"
Selena replied.
"Wow… that guy is very humble. Be careful, okay?"
the coworker told her.
Selena just smiled at her coworker's words.
// break time
A middle-aged woman entered the bakery and asked for a glass of water.
"Excuse me… may I have some water?" she asked another employee.
"Sorry, we don't provide free water here," the employee replied shortly.
Selena approached them.
"What's going on?" she asked.
"This lady wants free water," the employee explained.
Selena looked at the woman and told the employee to get back to work—she would handle it.
"It's okay, I'll take care of it," Selena said. The employee left, leaving her with the woman.
"Ma'am, please wait here. I'll get you some water," Selena said, then quickly fetched some for her.
"Thank you," the woman said as she took a sip of the water.
Selena looked at the woman and asked,
"Ma'am, why are you here? Where's your family?"
"My family? I don't know,"
the woman answered.
Selena paused, then changed the topic.
"Have you eaten?"
"No…"
"Wait a moment." She took a piece of bread and paid for it.
"Here, ma'am, this is for you."
The woman looked at Selena and smiled.
"Thank you. You're a kind girl. You'll meet a man who will love you," she said to Selena.
Selena was confused by the woman's words but just smiled.
The woman stood and left. Before walking away, she glanced at Selena with a smile. Selena watched her walk out of the bakery.
Selena stepped out to tell the woman to be careful, but when she looked around, the woman was already gone.
"How did she disappear so fast…?"
Although confused, Selena didn't think too much of it and got back to work.
Time passed, and it was now 8:30 p.m. Selena looked at the clock and remembered it was almost closing time. She started tidying up the shop.
After finishing, Selena changed her clothes to go home. The other workers had left a while ago—only one employee remained with her.
"Hey, I'm done with my work. I'm heading home now. How about you?" Selena asked.
"Ah… I'm done too. You go ahead—I'm being picked up by my boyfriend,"
the coworker replied.
"Oh… alright, I'll head off first," Selena said as she walked out.
The night felt very cold. Strong winds signaled that rain was coming. Selena walked quickly, hoping to get home before the rain started.
Unfortunately, the distance between Selena's house and the bakery was quite far, so it would take several minutes to get home.
While she was walking, raindrops began to fall. Soon after, the rain poured. Selena couldn't continue walking in the rain, so she had to stop for a while.
She sat at a bus stop, hoping a bus would come. But at that hour, there were no more scheduled stops at that station, so she had no choice but to wait for the rain to ease.
Selena looked at the quiet street and felt the cold from the wind and rain.
"Haaah… I should've brought an umbrella just in case…"
she muttered to herself.
Her clothes were soaked from the rain, making her even colder.
"Brrr… it's freezing…"
Her body was shivering from the cold.
From a distance, she saw a car coming. Selena quickly stood up.
Maybe I can ask them for help, she thought.
Selena stood at the side of the road and waved her hand at the car, shouting:
"Hey, hey… please help me!"
But the car didn't stop—it drove right past her.
Selena gave up and went back to the bench, waiting for the rain to let up.
She bowed her head, just waiting. She started feeling a headache, but still endured it.
It had been almost an hour. Now, not only did her head hurt, but her whole body was trembling and her face looked pale.
She kept her head down, not noticing that a car had stopped nearby…
A man in a black shirt stepped out of the car and held up an umbrella. He walked toward Selena.
He stood in front of her, holding the umbrella over her soaked body. The man then spoke:
"Miss, what are you doing here? Aren't you going home? You're completely soaked."
But Selena didn't answer. The man gently lifted Selena's chin.
As Selena looked up, her vision blurred. But… before she fainted, she said:
"…Help me."