The little cloud who wouldn’t rain

Once upon a time there was a cloud. She wasn’t a big cloud and she wasn’t really a small cloud. She was a nice medium cloud who lived in a herd of clouds. Cloud had a problem or at least the other clouds thought so. Cloud wouldn’t rain. Day after day cloud went along in the herd of clouds and while the other clouds were dropping their rain and throwing thunder and lightning at each other in their day games, Cloud would not.

This made the Head Cloud very angry. Cloud was not doing what she was supposed to do. This was not right or good. All his clouds should behave themselves and not make trouble. So he went to Cloud.

“Cloud, what’s our job?” he asked.

“To rain where it is needed and wanted.’ Replied Cloud calmly.

“NNNNNNNNOOOOOO!” thundered the Head Cloud. “We rain when we hit a mountain range. We rain when we group together and we rain when I say so!” The Head Cloud moved ponderously away looking blacker every moment.

Cloud had a feeling there was a really big storm coming but it really didn’t matter because she wasn’t going to rain here and he could yell all he wanted. “We rained here yesterday and they don’t need it here. It rained too much as it was and people were still cleaning up.”

They had rudely gotten shoved up against a mountain by a Hurricane and that made the Head Cloud mad so he rained and he had rained hard. Cloud thought they should only rain when and where it was needed but she was the only one that thought that way and sometimes that was lonely. She thought if she could just get over the mountain where it almost never rained she would do it but she would have to break free and that was hard for a cloud. Clouds tend to stick together.
This continued on for many days. And the Head Cloud thundered at her more and more. He just couldn’t understand that she had to do it just right. But one day the Hurricane blew again and Cloud decided she would try and get to the edge ahead of the group. Maybe she could get away.

They were being pushed faster and faster and the cloud was getting heavier and heavier as she picked up moisture the closer she got to the front of the cloud bank. She… needed… to… hold…on…just … a …little… longer…. And with one final shove from the Hurricane and the bank of clouds behind her she was free and roaring down the other side of the mountain. “Whhhhhhhhhhheeeee!”.
She was freeeeeeeeeeeeee. Now what? The other side of the mountain was barren. No one seemed to live here. It was the perfect place to rain but something was happening. It was hot here and she was beginning to feel lighter. “Uh oh!” She needed to rain and she needed to rain now!
And she tried and she tried but she could feel the heat from below making the water leave her but she could hear a noise behind her. And it was getting louder so she looked back the way she had come and the cloud bank was coming over the mountain! And some of her friends were leading the way racing down the mountain to join her.

And the more the clouds came, the more cool it got and less water left the cloud. When they were finally all around her the cloud was happy. She had missed them and not even known it. The Head Cloud caught up with her.

“Now will you rain?” he roared. As he looked around at the sand and spindly cactus and a lone flock of sheep that if you looked just right looked an awful lot like those clouds.

“Yes!” and she started to rain. She rained on the desert that was so dry and she watched something happen below. It was magic. Almost immediately pools appeared and she saw a tortoise find it. And then in the blink of an eye flowers and grass appeared. This made the sheep happy and because it cooled the shepherd, he was happy too. The little cloud was ecstatic. This was how it was supposed to be. She decided no matter how the Head Cloud thundered at her, she was only going to rain where she was needed.   

And that is why on some spring days if you live in a desert you see one lone medium size cloud. She’s looking to go where she is needed but look quickly because the rest of the clouds might be right behind her.