CHLOE AND THE RAIN
by E V ILASI
Plop.
Plop, Plop, Plop.
Chloe wiggled around, rubbed her eyes and slowly opened them to see where the noise was coming from.
She had gone to sleep under a catalpa tree leaf that had fallen to the ground and settled partly on top of a stone. Chloe found it to be a very good place to take an early afternoon nap. The leaf would protect her from the bright sunlight that always hurt her eyes..
Looking out from under the leaf Chloe did not see any sunlight.
Plop.
A drop of water landed right on her face. She shook her head and rubbed the water out of her eyes. Carefully she moved her head to the very edge of the leaf and looked out.
Plop, Plop. More drops of water landed right in front of her.
"This is very strange," she thought to herself. "Where was the water coming from?" she wondered.
Bump.
"Now what?" Chloe said out loud.
"Can I stay under the leaf with you?"
Chloe jumped! The hair on her body stood straight up. "A…who's that?"
"Hello. My name is Betty, and I need a place to stay dry from the water, and this leaf is big enough for you and me to fit under together."
Chloe turned around and saw a red and yellow lady bug standing right next to her. There was water on her back legs and she shivered as she shook it off.
"Hello. My name is Chloe. I'm a caterpillar and I need to stay dry too. Yes, you can stay under the leaf with me until the water stops falling."
"Thank you, Chloe," Betty said. "You are a very nice caterpillar."
"I don't remember seeing you before. Did you just move here?" Chloe asked. She wanted to make Betty feel comfortable. After all, Betty said she was a very nice caterpillar.
"I was in the neighborhood to visit my friend, Bobby the butterfly when all of a sudden the sky got dark and water started falling from the sky. I couldn't fly home and needed to find a safe, dry place to be."
"I flew to a bush, but the leaves were too small to keep me covered."
"Then I flew to a tree, but there were birds there that looked hungry, and I didn't want to be their lunch."
"Then I found a tree hole, but a squirrel was there and she wouldn't let me stay."
"Then I looked down and saw this leaf and it looked like it was big enough to stay under until the water stops."
"Oh, Chloe, I'm so glad you were under the leaf and said it was okay for me to stay here with you. I was getting scared there would be no place I could be where I would be safe."
Suddenly there was a flash of light. Chloe and Betty both jumped and then hugged each other, shaking.
Boom! Crash! Plop. Plop. Plop. Plop.
Chloe and Betty hugged each other even harder.
"Betty, I'mmmm glad you cammmme to my leaffff," Chloe said, her voice shaking in fear. "I don't know what I would do if I there was no one else here with me."
Plop. Plop. Plop.
Betty and Chloe peeked out from under the leaf. The sky was very dark. Then, another flash of light lit up the sky followed by another crash and boom.
Chloe and Betty kept hugging each other.
In the warmth of the hug, Chloe remembered another time when there was water falling from the sky. Her friend, Bobby the butterfly had called the water rain. He told her that without the rain there would be no bushes or trees or food. He told her that the rain was a good thing and the best thing to do was to sing until the rain stopped. Bobby taught her a song to sing that would make everything okay until the rain was all done.
She looked at Betty and said, "I know Bobby the butterfly too. I remember he told me that this water is called rain and it's a good thing. "
Betty moved her face from Chloe's furry neck. "It's a good thing?" Betty said.
"Yes, it is."
"I remember Bobby taught me a song to sing when it is raining out. He said it would make everything okay until the rain was all done."
Betty looked at Chloe. "Will you teach it to me Chloe?"
Chloe smiled. "It goes like this."
"The seeds need the rain to make the trees grow.
The trees take the rain and make the leaves grow.
The leaves take the rain and make the seeds grow.
Then the seeds fall to the ground and it all starts over again."
Betty smiled.
Chloe smiled.
They both started singing the song, and, you know, it did make everything okay.
THE END
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