What I learned from a raindrop

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Our young, wonderful high school student from Afghanistan, Mashal, loves to write stories.  His English teacher writes a short prompt and then he continues the story. The teacher corrects any mistakes and sends along another prompt, keeping the story going. The fun is the inevitable surprises the story takes. Mashal’s English level is now sufficient, his teacher tells us, that he can write the bulk of the story himself.  

ONCE there was a boy who loved to write stories.  One day when it was raining outside he said, “This is a good day to write a story.  But what should I write about?”   

    He thought and thought and then he said, “I will write about the life of a drop of rain! I will write where his life starts and then where he goes. But then the boy thought, but I don’t know!

     “I should catch a drop of rain and ask it.  So he put his hand out the window and caught a drop of rain. It was very beautiful.  It was big and round and it was like a mirror.       

     “You are so beautiful,” said the boy.  

     “Thank you,” said the rain drop.  

     Then the boy continued, “I know you come from a cloud high up in the sky and you fall a long way to come to earth.  Could you tell me, are you afraid to fall?  Is it scary?” 

     “No! Of course not. Why scary? This is our life.  We enjoy falling to earth, flying through the sky, and then floating back up to our cloud family again.  We have a very happy life.”

     The boy answered, “Wow!  That’s really wonderful.  But I have another question.  If you love to fly to earth, why is the rain always sad?” 

     The little raindrop answered, “Sad?!  Why do you think rain is sad?  Raindrops are happy. We fall on people’s heads and make new friends.  We fall on animals and give them a bath.  We fall in rivers and make them laugh.  When the weather is rainy, the sky is a little dark and people think the day is sad.  But if you look at each rain drop, and not at the dark sky, you will see how beautiful we are and that will make you feel happy.” 

     Just then, the raindrop melted on the boy’s finger.  The boy smiled and said, “I learned something very beautiful from a raindrop today:  We should be happy.”  —Mashal

 ©InterestEng. July 2013 - April 2022 §  The stories in the magazine portion of the site are written by English language learners. Stories are corrected by a native English speaker.  § Photos are staff photos or used with permission.  §  To contact us:  go.gently.on@gmail.com