Nai Nai’s Gift

Based on the tale Something From Nothing

Xiang loved to hear her Nai Nai tell her about how she got her name. “Xiang means to soar,” Nai Nai would always begin. “Our hope is that you will always soar high in the sky like a kite.”

Last Spring, Xiang’s Nai Nai gave her an umbrella. It was blue like the sky.

Xiang loved her umbrella. She loved to go out in the rain and feel the wet dampness. She loved to hear the drops as they bounced off her umbrella. She loved to splash in the puddles. She thought about her Nai Nai every time that it rained, And it made her happy.

But then her Nai Nai died.

When Xiang got her umbrella out of the storage box she saw that the umbrella was battered and frayed. When she opened the umbrella, two spokes popped out. Her umbrella was broken. Xiang cried and cried.

Then xiang did something. Carefully, very carefully, she took apart the umbrella. She twisted and bent the spokes and she spread the sky-blue fabric out on the table and began to cut and sew.

Xiang had made a kite. Xiang took it outside and threw it in the air. The wind caught the kite and it soared high in the sky.