The Girl and the Rain Cloud (A story for Madison)

The Girl and the Rain Cloud

By: Kay Olds


One bright sunny morning, a beautiful baby was born. She had light blond hair, big blue eyes, rosy cheeks, and a smile to knock your socks off! She was the buzz around the hospital. Everyone asking, “Have you seen the beautiful baby girl born today?”
Doctors, nurses, patients, and visitors all stopped by to get a look at her. And she smiled at each and every one of them, making each person feel so very special.
Mayor Burns heard about this baby and just had to see for herself, so off she went to the hospital. The mayor was so touched by the baby’s beauty and smile, that she declared the day of this baby’s birth to be a town holiday. The townspeople were overjoyed. After all, how many places declared a holiday just because a beautiful baby is born?
Two days after she was born, the doctor said her parents could take her home. So the proud Dad went to drive the car around to the front entrance. The nurses helped the Mother to bathe and dress the baby, and they packed up all of the gifts people had brought to her. All the while the baby smiled. What a lovely family, thought Nurse Jane. Such a happy baby is truly a rare gift.
The sun was beaming proudly as the baby came out with her parents. Little birds flew by and had a peek at the baby. A squirrel was digging in the dirt nearby and he ran over to see what the fuss was all about. He felt such a warm feeling inside when he saw her smile. He ran off chattering and cats and dogs heard about the baby so they came by to see her. Little bees buzzed by. Butterflies fluttered by. It was a magical scene. And the baby smiled brighter, feeling the whole world loved her.

All of this commotion caught the eye of a tiny little rain cloud that was sitting off to the East, so it decided to drift over to see what was at the center of all this attention. The cloud was amazed to see this beautiful baby with such a lovely smile. The cloud beamed with happiness.
As the proud parents and the baby drove off, the little cloud decided to follow them home to protect the baby from the sun. It hung low in the sky until the baby was safe inside. The parents and the baby had a very good night’s sleep.
Days and weeks and months and years went by. The baby grew and learned to crawl, to walk, to talk and the townspeople loved her and she loved them. But a strange thing was happening. Every time the baby left the house, the little cloud followed. At first, it was okay; just a little shade from the sun. But as the baby grew so did the cloud! And it began to rain! Not everywhere. Oh No! It rained only over the little girl!!!
It seemed kind of funny at first, and the little girl kept smiling at the cloud. The Mom wasn’t too happy about it because she had to always have rain gear ready. No rain fell on her Mom. No rain fell on her Dad. No rain fell on her kitten or on her puppy. Not even on her friends. Only on her!
For five years it rained on her every time she went out the door. She became upset and afraid, along with her parents and most of the townspeople. All anyone could talk about was why it always rained on this one beautiful little girl with the dazzling smile. No one knew. And her smile began to fade. She became so weary of being rained on every day of her life!
She walked along some days longing for the sun to come out and chase the cloud away. As she got older, she yelled at the cloud to go away. She threw rocks at the cloud to make it stop. She chanted “Rain, rain, go away…” NOTHING!!! It just kept raining! And the girl finally stopped smiling! She stopped being happy.
Slowly, the animals and the townspeople lost interest in the girl. Fewer people came to the celebration in the park each year. The holiday was no longer fun for anyone.
Two days before her birthday, the little girl sat in her room reading her favorite book and listening to the new Cheetah Girls 2 CD. Her mother brought in her new party dress and shoes. Her favorite color, purple. But she showed no interest in them at all. Why should she? She would only be wet with rain the moment she stepped out the door. No, she was not looking forward to another wet party dress and ruined shoes!
Mother asked what was wrong. Why did she no longer smile? Wasn’t she looking forward to her sixth birthday party day after tomorrow? The girl didn’t answer. She stayed awake nearly the whole night thinking about that cloud!
Early the next morning she slipped out to see the cloud. Gently, the rain began to fall, a light mist in the early morning hours. The girl looked up at the cloud and sadly shook her head. The rain cloud shrugged and rained harder. And the girl became angry. The cloud rained harder. The girl became angrier and the cloud rained even harder. The girl began jumping up and down, stamping her feet and shaking her fists at the cloud. And it poured on the girl. With all her might, the girl screamed at the cloud, “Why? Why do you keep doing this to me? Why do you keep raining only on me?” A loud clap of thunder boomed in the sky and the cloud let out the most rain ever. The girl was a soggy drenched mess! She dropped to her knees and began to cry. The more she cried, the more it rained. She thought surely she would be washed away.
All of a sudden the thunder was so loud it hurt her ears and the lightening flashed so brightly that it hurt her eyes! She began screaming at the cloud, “Stop! Why don’t you just stop raining on me?” The rain stopped! The cloud looked down at the girl, puzzled by her reaction. “What’s wrong?” asked the cloud. “Why don’t you smile anymore?”
“I have been rained on by you every day since the day I left the hospital! Every time I go outside, I’m wet! No one else, just me. Now I want to know why!”

“Well, it’s simple,” said the cloud. “On the day you were leaving the hospital, I heard someone ask what they were going to name you, and your Dad said loudly, ‘Rain. It’s going to be rain!’ So I rained on you. I thought it’s what he wanted me to do!”
“You silly little cloud! My name is Rayne. R-A-Y-N-E, not R-A-I-N. Will you please stop now?”
“Certainly”, said the cloud sheepishly. “I made a big mistake and I hope you will forgive me.”
“Of course I forgive you!” said the girl. “After all, you have stayed beside me, well, above me, for almost 6 years! We are friends forever.”
And with that the beautiful smile came back to the girl’s face. This time it was even bigger and brighter than ever. It lit up the sky and a huge rainbow loomed over the town. The colors were so brilliant all the townspeople came out to see what was happening. Some of them ran off to each end of the rainbow, hoping to find a pot of gold! Everyone else gathered at the town square to sing Happy Birthday to Rayne. They showered her with gifts and laughed and sang and danced until the wee hours of the night. Rayne had the best party she ever had. Most definitely, the driest!!! And the cloud beamed up above her.
The next morning, Rayne jumped out of bed, eager to see if the cloud was still there. It was. Quite happy to see her cloud, she ran out and said, “Good morning, Cloud!” The cloud opened its eyes and smiled. “Good morning, friend.” And guess what! NO RAIN!! Rayne was thrilled. She twirled around laughing and looked up lovingly at her cloud. She asked, “Are you going to stop raining on me now?” The cloud smiled and said, “I will.” With that Rayne went back into the house. She didn’t even notice that as the cloud drifted gently away, it turned and rolled it’s eyes towards the house, smiled slyly and said….”Oooorrrrr WILL I…????”