The bloganuary prompt for day 7 is “Rain”. Here is a short story on the topic.
A little girl was sitting with her Grandpa on a bench in the park listening to stories about demons and Gods. She asked, “Grandpa, have you seen God?”
She was disappointed when he said “no”. She asked, “then how do you know God exists?”
At that moment there were plops on their faces. Grandpa looked up and saw the dark clouds. He showed it to the little girl. “Look! God is sending us this gift of rain through the dark clouds. We can see God through His creations.”
“Thank you God”,: the little girl looked up at the sky, put her hands out to touch the rain drops.
The clouds smiled as they opened up and showered their blessings on her. The little girl and her grandpa danced their way home, the rain was now a drizzle, refreshing their mind, body and spirit. She blew a kiss to the clouds as she entered the gate of her house.
The clouds smiled and opened up – the rain started pouring heavily. There was a little cloud which had formed for the first time. It said to the large cloud. “Isn’t it fun?. The little girl sent us a kiss.” The large cloud smiled and said, “We are showering rain equally all over the state but people react differently to this gift. Come, as we keep pouring, let us see what is happening on the earth below.” So they watched the drama unfold.
In a city, the streets were flooded as the rains lashed. The electricity power went down. There was traffic jam on the roads with cars getting stuck in the rain. A young lady in a third floor apartment cursed the rain as there was no power in the building. There was no water at home as the motor pump could not be operated. She called her husband on phone and shouted. “There is no water at home. Can you bring a can of water?”
“I am stuck in a traffic jam. Why don’t you order drinking water online.” he shouted back as he kept honking his horn.
Their little girl stood in the balcony enjoying the rain. She heard her mother and quietly kept a bowl in the terrace to catch the rain water. She watched with fascination as the rain washed the leaves on trees. She breathed in the smell of soil soaked in the rain and smiled.
She heard a banging at the door. Her dad stood at the door, his face red with climbing up the stairs.
“Give me some water.” he barked.
“I told you there is no water. I have ordered online but I don’t know when it will come.” his wife answered back.
The little girl went up to her Dad and offered him a glass of water.
“Where did you get this?” her mom shouted.
“Mom, this is pure rain water. I have kept two more vessels on the terrace. There is enough water for all of us.” She sang as she ran back to the balcony to watch the rain. “Don’t stand in the rain. You will catch cold.” her mom shouted after her.
The clouds passed the city and moved towards the hills. In a small house in the outskirts of the city, the roof started leaking.
“Mama, our doll got wet. Please ask the rain to stop” cried a little boy and his sister.
Their mom brought a steel bucket and placed it under the roof. “Just listen to the water fall drop by drop into the bucket. Isn’t the sound relaxing?. We should not ask the rain to stop. We need the rain so that the lakes will fill up and we will have enough water supply for the whole year.”
The children listened to their mother singing songs in praise of the rain while they watched the bucket fill up. Mother placed a wider tub under the roof. Soon the tub also got filled, so the children brought another plastic tub.
“Come, why don’t you make paper boats and let them float on this tub of water? The children played with the paper boats and the family had a happy hot meal prepared by mom for dinner.
The clouds travelled over the hills. They enjoyed pouring over the hills and watched as the water ran down the hill as waterfalls.
The adventurous tourists went up to the waterfalls to have a bath and swim in the stream below. A young couple on honey moon stood huddled on the balcony of their hotel room, watching the rain and the waterfalls from their window. Their heart was filled with joy.
An elderly couple living in the hill station for years, sat on the sofa sipping hot coffee, listening to their favourite movie songs on the radio. They talked about the old times when they were young, how they had first met on a rainy day, how they walked in the rain hand in hand .
The waterfalls roared and poured into a stream. The stream bubbled and gurgled and swirled as it gathered more water and travelled towards the plains.
Photo by Pixabay: https://www.pexels.com/photo/green-grass-field-during-day-time-206893/
The clouds travelled towards the village. “Look at the green fields. They are waiting for us.” The large cloud told the small one. The clouds started pouring over the fields. The plants welcomed the rain with open arms. As the rains lashed, the fields wore a fresh green look and smiled at the skies. The farmers looked up and thanked the rain gods. The village women sang and danced and the children joined them. The villagers celebrated the arrival of rain with joy.
The clouds filled up the rivers which started flowing with full force. The youth of the village dived into the river for a swim, the young women splashed water on each other, enjoying the feel of fresh water cooling up their entire body and mind. They laughed and sang as they played about in the river while the rain continued to spray fresh water on their beautiful faces.
The rivers started swelling up and moved with full force removing all the obstacles on the way. The waves splashed against the rocks in the banks, rose high up to touch the fruits of the trees on the banks. The river jumped up and down as it started flowing towards the sea, the clouds on the sky followed the course of the river.
Finally the river entered the zone of the sea. The sea was a vast expanse of blue, calm and composed. The river slowed down and expanded as it moved towards the sea. Slowly the river water found the gap between rocks and stones as it flew in to the sea and all was quiet as it became one with the sea.
The clouds showered a few drops of rain on the sea. The large cloud told the little cloud. “This is our home. This is where we came from.” The clouds smiled as they let the last drop of water fall into the sea. The cool wind carried the clouds away towards the full moon that shone brightly in the sky,
Vanaja Shankar 