It was 3:00 PM on a hot Tuesday afternoon. Angel sat at a small wooden table outside Aling Nena’s sari-sari/SA-ri SA-ri/A small neighborhood variety store store. She was drinking a cold glass of sago’t gulaman/SA-go at gu-la-MAN/A sweet drink with tapioca pearls and jelly and working on her favorite thing: her science project.
Angel loved science and the environment. Today, she was building a vertical garden from recycled plastic bottles. Her blue backpack was on the chair next to her. Inside were her scissors, rope, soil, and small seedlings/SEED-lingz/Very young plants of pechay/pe-CHAY/A type of leafy green vegetable and oregano.
Suddenly, she heard a loud sound. Beep! Beep!
It was the red jeepney/JEEP-nee/A colorful, popular public bus! The jeepney was her ride home. Angel looked at her watch. She had only two minutes to catch it. She quickly put her notebook in her pocket, said "Thank you!" to Aling Nena, and ran to the street. She jumped into the jeepney just before it drove away.
Twenty minutes later, Angel arrived at her house. She ran into the kitchen. Her mother was cooking adobo/a-DO-bo/A popular savory and sour Filipino stew, a delicious chicken dish.
"Hi, Mom!" Angel said. "I am ready to finish my vertical garden!"
Her mother smiled. "That is great, Angel. Where is your backpack?"
Angel looked down at her shoulder. Her shoulder was light. She looked at her hands. They were empty/EMP-tee/Containing nothing; not filled.
Angel’s heart beat very fast. Thump, thump, thump.
"Mom, I don't have my backpack!" Angel said. Her voice was worried. "My science project is in there! My seedlings and my scissors are in there!"
"Don't panic/PAN-ik/To suddenly feel very afraid and unable to think clearly," her mother said calmly. "Think. Where were you?"
"I was at Aling Nena’s store," Angel said. "I think... I think I left it on the chair!"
Angel ran back outside. The sun was starting to go down, and the streetlights were turning on. She ran as fast as she could to the sari-sari store.
When she arrived, she was out of breath. She looked at the small wooden table. Her glass was gone. She looked at the chair. The chair was empty.
"Aling Nena!" Angel called out.
Aling Nena, the kind store owner, came out of her small shop. "Hello, Angel. Why are you running?"
"Aling Nena, did you see my blue backpack?" Angel asked politely. "It has a picture of a star on it. I left it on the chair."
Aling Nena looked at the empty chair. Then, she smiled a big, warm smile. She walked to the counter inside her shop and picked up a blue backpack.
"Is this your backpack, Angel?" she asked.
Angel’s eyes opened wide. "Yes! Yes, it is!" she shouted. She ran forward and gave Aling Nena a big, grateful/GRAYT-ful/Feeling or showing thanks; thankful hug.
"Salamat po/sa-la-MAT po/Thank you (respectful), Aling Nena!" Angel said. "You saved my vertical garden project!"
Aling Nena hugged her back warmly. "You are welcome, Angel. I saw it when you ran to the jeepney, so I brought it inside to keep it safe. I know how important your school things are."
Angel felt so relieved/rih-LEEVD/Feeling happy because something unpleasant has stopped or did not happen. She was not scared anymore. She was just happy.
"Now, go home and finish your garden," Aling Nena said. "And next time, always check your chair before you run!"
Angel laughed. She put the backpack on her shoulders. It felt heavy, but it felt wonderful. She walked home under the streetlights, ready to build the best vertical garden in her class.