There is a girl who goes to school. She is always quiet, and she is often on her own.

She always
sits in the corner, constricting herself like she is being squeezed. 
 
She always has her head down, and when you look at her, she always looks away. She only talks
when the teacher calls her. And whenever she speaks, it is as if she is whispering.
 
She has been shy ever since she learned that she was different. Her classmates make her see and
feel that she is not like them. They are rich, and they always wear beautiful clothes to school. 
 
They make fun of her because her dresses are old. The dresses are clean, but the colors are pale
and covered in patches. But the teasing does not stop at her clothes.
 
At lunch, her classmates take out their fancy baon to show off. They have apples, sandwiches,
and many candies wrapped in colorful foils. But her food is very different. All she has are five
pieces of pandesal. Her baon were not special at all. Unlike her classmates’, her pandesal are
not sandwiches. They are just plain, flavorless bread.
 
She is afraid her classmates would tease her for it, so she eats her food differently from the
others. She breaks down her food into tiny little pieces and eats bit by bit. Still, her classmates
would steal glimpses, and they would laugh whenever they see her food.
 
And so, she was alone. She distanced herself from her classmates and stopped caring about them.
 
She often comes home crying. Her mother knew that she was being bullied. And she was also
hurt for her child. But all she could say as she stops herself from crying is: “Let them be, my
dear. Don’t mind them. Don’t worry. Once your father earns a lot of money, your baon will be
lots of delicious food. And I will buy you lots and lots of dresses.”
 
A few days passed, but her father did not earn any money. So her situation did not change. She
realized then how hard their life is. She learned to share the hardships of their family’s life. And
starting now, she would not cry home. She wouldn’t tell her mother about her mean classmates
anymore.
 
Back in school, her classmates continue to tease her. She stays silent. So they continue to make
fun of her old, tattered clothes, and her yucky, plain food. Being poor was always inside her
head.

But one day, she finally snaps. She learned to fight back, and so she talks.
 
“Did you know?” she says confidently. 
 
Her classmates are shocked that the poor, quiet girl in the old tattered dresses talked.
 
“I have a hundred dresses at home!” she declared. Her classmates look at each other. They were
confused. That can’t be! She can’t have that many dresses at home, right?!
 
“If you’re telling the truth, then why do you only wear old and tattered dresses?” they challenge
her. But she is also quick to reply.

“Because I care for them so much. I don’t want my many dresses to get old by wearing them.”

“You liar! Explain to us, or we will never believe you!” her classmates cried.

And so she replies, “I can’t bring them all here. My mother will scold me. If you want, I can
describe them all to you instead. I’ll tell you what colors, and designs they have. I’ll tell you
what fabric they are made of, and if they have ribbons or flowers.”

Surely, her classmates thought, if she can’t describe her many dresses, then she must be lying!
 
And so, she started describing them.
 
She says she has dresses for all occasions. She has pambahay, pajamas, school uniforms, church
clothes, and many more! Her story was long since she described as much as she could in full
detail.
 
One dress is red, and it is for very special occasions. It has tiny flowers embroidered on it, a
striking collar, and laces on each shoulder. And the skirt is at a sack’s length.
 
And her pajama was embroidered with fruits all over. And for church, her dress has a wide belt
and big pockets.
 
Ever since then, her classmates became her friends. They now talk to her. She speaks to them,
and they would listen. They loved hearing about her clothes. And her shyness vanished like it
was never there. She is happy, but she is still thin even if her classmates give her their apples, a
piece of their sandwiches, and a candy or two.
 
But one day, the girl with a hundred clothes didn’t come to school. It was strange. Why wouldn’t
she go to school? Surely, she would be back the next day. But then came the next day, and she
was nowhere to be found. Then the next, and the next, until a week had passed. She did not come
back.
 
So, her classmates decide they should visit her. They find her house, but it is far from what they
expect. They see before them a rundown shack that seems to lean one way. Maybe it was just
heavy. Perhaps it was just old. Or, it could be heavy and old!
 
A thin woman appears from inside. It is the girl’s mother. She invites them in, and they go
inside. They walk through a dirty kitchen filled with different strange ingredients. And in one
corner, there lies the poor girl on a cot. She is sick. However, they did not look at her. Instead,
they see all the dresses she has been talking about.
 
They see all the colorful clothes. They spot her beautiful red dress for special occasions. They
also spot her pajamas and church dresses. All the beautiful dresses she did not wear because they
would get old. They were not dresses she could have worn at all.
 
A hundred dresses she has, but they were all drawings all along.