雨の日のかさ整理

That was because a strong rain had suddenly fallen the evening before.

When Aya entered the school, a teacher was standing there with a slightly troubled look on her face.

The teacher said, “Could someone straighten up the umbrella area a little?”

If it stays like this, people might stop being able to tell which umbrella is theirs.

Aya called out to Mika, who was nearby, and the two decided to help.

First, they separated the long umbrellas and the folding umbrellas into different places.

After that, they put paper numbers on umbrellas of the same color.

There were three red umbrellas, five blue umbrellas, and eight black umbrellas.

Umbrellas with names written on them were put into boxes for each owner.

Umbrellas without names were lined up neatly on top of the desk.

Mika looked at the wet floor and said, “If it stays like this, it looks like someone might slip here.”

So Aya went to get a cleaning cloth and wiped up the water.

After that, they put up a paper near the entrance that said, “Please put umbrellas here.”

Below the paper, they also wrote in small letters, “Please look at your own name before going home.”

Around the time first period ended, a first-year boy came to look for a blue umbrella.

When Aya looked at the number, that umbrella was in the box on the right.

The boy said, “I’m glad it was found,” and bowed his head many times.

When break time came, other students also came to get their own umbrellas.

Aya heard people say, “It’s easy to understand,” and became a little happy.

But one white umbrella whose owner was unknown remained until the very end.

The teacher said, “We will keep that in the staff room, so please bring it later.”

After the two of them carried that umbrella away, they looked at the entrance and saw that it had become much easier to walk through than in the morning.

Aya thought that it is important not only to put things down, but also to arrange them so they are easy to understand.

When she was going home, Aya looked at the sky, which had become brighter than in the morning, and felt that she would probably be able to come to school feeling good tomorrow too.