When autumn comes, the leaves start to fall outside. But not just leaves. Often, raindrops fall too. Outside the windows, it’s drizzly. It’s getting cold. Dark clouds gather in the sky and then drop waterfalls of raindrops on the ground, watering the soil. It’s the kind of weather we like to watch out the window. There are too many raindrops falling from the sky. I know the story of one raindrop that was different. It looked like the others, but it didn’t act like them.
As more clouds grew in the sky and began to pile together and rain was about to fall, all the raindrops began to fall down obediently. They fell to the ground in rivers, oceans, seas, and puddles. All the drops knew how important it was to water the earth. They knew that in time they would evaporate from the ground and return to the clouds. That’s the water cycle.
But one of those raindrops wouldn’t fall. It clung to the clouds as long as it could, and then it floated away with the clouds again. For a long time, she managed to hold on to the clouds and not fall. One cloud tried to talk her out of it. He talked her through the good and the bad. But she was stubborn. She held on to the cloud all the time.
Until one day, the cloud ran out of patience and called in the wind. “Blower, please come. Come and help me. I don’t know what to do with this drop, I can’t hold it forever.” Blower the wind came. He blew gently on the drop and asked her why she didn’t want to fall. She didn’t want to say anything at first, she just held on to the cloud. But after a while, she understood that the wind was kind and really cared. She looked sadly down at the ground below her and slowly began telling the wind why she didn’t want to fall.
“You know, Blower, I think they’ll forget about me. If I fall down, I’ll melt into the other water and no one will know I was here. It makes me sad. I want to be needed and important to everyone. I don’t want to just disappear. Plus, I’m afraid of heights. I’m afraid of just falling.”
Wind smiled sympathetically at her. He didn’t blame her for anything and he understood her. He hugged her gently and told her something very important. “My dear little raindrop. You don’t have to worry about not being important. There are many of you, but each of you has a very important task. You are valuable to our country. You know if one drop of water thought it was unnecessary, then there would never be an ocean in which each drop is important. And if you’re afraid of heights, I’ll help you. I’ll bring you down so you don’t fall too fast. You’ll be safe with me, don’t worry.”
The drop thought some more about what Blower had told her. Then she realized he was right. She let herself be carried down to the ground. Cloud was happy it had worked out that way. And the drop never forgot what the wind had told her. And you’ll never forget it either. You may be as sad as the raindrop sometimes, but remember you’re always important and valuable to someone.
