It was a sunny day. Pritam was on his way to school when he saw a few dark clouds suddenly appear in the sky.
“This is unusual,” he thought and continued to walk.
The sky was soon overcast with dark rain clouds. A thunder rumbled, as if warning everyone to take cover.
Pritam loved walking in the rain. But today, he did not have his umbrella with him. He did not expect the weather to change so drastically. Since he was just a short distance away from home, he decided to rush back to get his umbrella.
But by the time he came out of his home with the umbrella, the rain clouds disappeared. The sky was clear again.
Pritam was annoyed. However, he didn’t think it was wise to leave the umbrella at home.
“Who knows when the weather might change again,” he thought.
Pritam had a habit of forgetting things, especially his umbrella. He had lost four umbrellas the previous year. His parents bought him the current one only after Pritam promised to be careful.
“What if I misplace this umbrella as well? Mom and Dad will be unhappy, especially since I promised to not lose this one,” thought Pritam.
Then, Pritam had an idea. He hung the new umbrella around his neck and said triumphantly, “Now I surely won’t lose it!”
When Pritam reached his school, the students looked at the umbrella around his neck and burst out laughing.
“Where did you get this new tie?” teased one of the boys.
Pritam ignored him and proceeded towards his classroom. Once he entered the class, all his friends pointed at him and started laughing.
One of his classmates said, “Usually, people wear chains or ID tags around their neck, but what new trend is this?”
The comments and laughter continued throughout the day. Pritam was hurt but he did not remove his umbrella because he was sure he would lose it.
During the break, when he and his classmates were playing in the ground, Pritam looked up at the clear sky.
“I wonder why it didn’t rain. It doesn’t seem like it is going to rain either. I shouldn’t have taken the umbrella today. Everyone is teasing me for it,” he muttered.
Pritam continued to walk around the entire day at school with the umbrella hanging around his neck for fear of losing it.
In the evening, when Pritam started for home, the weather was still clear. “It didn’t even drizzle! I had to hang this umbrella around my neck the whole day and listen to silly comments,” he sulked.
Suddenly, there was a roar of thunder. Pritam looked up and much to his delight, dark clouds covered the sky. It began to rain. Pritam happily removed his umbrella from around his neck and opened it up. He walked home with a bright smile on his face.
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