The second rain

Beautiful flower

Alinka was sitting at the table and doing her homework. More precisely, she wasn’t doing her lessons, but only pretended to do them, because she had long ago tired of this boring textbook and, running her eyes over the lines, thought about whatever turns up. There were grayish clouds in the sky, and the girl kept glancing out of the window to see if he was coming today after all. Clouds have been wandering around here for the third day, and there is still no rain! Alinka hoped very much that the same rain, that came last time, lived in these clouds, but she was very afraid that he would not recognize her. After all, where the water, that has spilled past her, is unknown. But for herself, she was determined that when it rained, she would remind him that he had promised her a story.

The street was suddenly very quiet. Alinka put down her textbook and went to the window. There were no more clouds to be seen, just the sky had turned all gray. Finally! He's coming right now, we need to open the window as soon as possible… She was very afraid to miss the first drops: what if he would be offended because she didn’t meet him?

– Hello! – Alinka said to the first drop that touched her palm, which was stretched out to the street. But no one answered her. – You don't want to talk to me today? I've been waiting for you for a long time.

She took her hand away and, catching on the frame, tried to stick her head out of the window leaf. There hasn't been any rain yet. Alinka sighed sadly and sat down on the windowsill, she didn’t want to read the textbook anymore.

– Alinka! Hello. Are you waiting for me? I am very glad. – There was a sudden noise outside the window, as if someone had turned on the sound. And for some reason, the room became quiet and cozy.

– Rain! Haven’t you forgotten me? I'm glad to see you, too. Will you tell me a story today? You promised, do you remember?

– I remember. Of course, I remember. I brought you a story about a beautiful flower. Listen up!

Far, far away from here, there is an amazing country. There are wonderful herbs, flowers and trees growing there. There are tiny ones, like your fingernail, there are huge ones, bigger than your house, soft and fluffy, hard and prickly, standing and hanging, and even crawling. Yes, yes! Silent in any wind and singing in calm weather. Believe me, I have heard it myself! They are all very different, of course, but… green. Green always: in spring, summer, and autumn. And trees, and grass, and even flowers! Why are you surprised? After all, even here you will not find two equally green plants. Really? And there. Oh, there were so many shades of green! Light green, malachite, turquoise, emerald, eucalyptus, with tints, stripes, speckles. But there were no other colors, except for all shades of green.

And then one day in early spring, an unusual flower grew on a large meadow. It quietly, almost imperceptibly, pulled out his bud on a thin stalk, and when he opened, everything around him just gasped in amazement. The petals of this amazing flower were… colorful! The thin blades of grass, among which such a miracle had suddenly appeared, stopped whispering to each other, and stood motionless in perplexity – they had never, ever seen anything like it. The light breeze that had been playing with the leaves had subsided. And the trees around began to spread their branches, allowing their leaves to admire an unprecedented curiosity.

– Look, look, – the leaves fluttered. -Oh, how lovely! How wonderful! Where did he come from? Hush, hush, don't obstruct him, let us admire him too!

– I know where he has come from, – said a voice from the top branch. – He fell from the sky!

– He couldn't have fallen from the sky! What kind of fiddlesticks is this? – Leaves rustled from the lower branches.

– Not fiddlesticks, not fiddlesticks! See what kind of petals does he have? – the topmost leaf insisted. -Do you remember what I have told you about the rainbow? Well, such a bridge in the sky.

– Yes, yes, yes, that's right, that's right, – said the leaves from the upper branches. – We saw it, too! Really, really! He has the same petals – colored, multicolored.

– And the middle, do you see? – the top leaf continued. – It looks like a night star.

– Lovely! Lovely! – the lower leaves rustled. – Now we know what the night stars look like and of what color the rainbow is. Hurray! How great that such a wonderful flower has grown here!

– Tearley-teoley! Tearley-lee! What a joy! – he came straight from the sky so loudly and joyfully that everyone fell silent on the meadow at once. – Oh, what fun it is here now!

– Tearley-teoley! If you could only see him! Tearley-lee! I'll fly, I'll tell everyone, everyone, everyone! Wait for the guests! Tearle-teao!

And everyone suddenly joyfully began to hum, rustle, get excited, get preened.

Only the light green flowers on the meadow were sad. "Of course, this is the most beautiful flower on the earth, – they thought in silence, not even daring to admit aloud to each other, – but he probably won't want to communicate with us on equal terms – he is perfect! And besides, the bees will no longer notice us at all. After all, how wonderful it is to be so colorful!"

I must tell you that the seed from which the flower grew, which caused such a stir with his appearance, was brought by the wind from the very far place. It was very different there! At the home of the flower, everything was of the most unthinkable bright colors. What kinds of flowers were not there! But there were no green ones! Not that there was no green color at all, it was there. But it was… just green and that was it. Therefore, the casual guest was completely amazed with such an abundance of various shades. And besides, the language spoken by the inhabitants of this place was completely different from the native language of the guest, and he did not understand a word of their exclamations. Probably that's why he was so sad.

He quietly shook his colorful head, dumbfounded, looking at such an unusual world around. "What amazing plants are here! – the flower thought admiringly. – What an extraordinary shimmer of green, what richness! What a grace! How unpleasant it must be for them that I should appear here so ordinary and rude among this entire jewelry splendor. Oh, how sad that my petals are just different colors! Everyone seems to be shouting: I'm red, I'm blue, I'm yellow! How tasteless! Even my green stem looks banal green against their background. And what a miracle grows nearby! The stem shimmers with dark shiny specks on a matte background, and the petals are light transparent with a dense pattern… What a charm! It just takes the breath away! Look how loudly a bird sings in the sky! How happy all they must be in the midst of this beauty! Ah, the songstress paused. I think she has seen my squalor and flown away… Oh, they all have seen me. Of course, how such a spot cannot be noticed? Let the evening come sooner in order to close up, hide. I hope my sepals are also green. Of course, they are not as beautiful as the flowers have here, but still, I will not be so annoying. Let the evening come sooner!"

Alinka gave a sad, very sad sigh. Rain, of course, immediately heard.

– Why do you sigh so sadly? You don't like the story?

– On, no. I really like the story. Simply… I think how strange it is.

– What is strange?

– That the flower was afraid. After all, he was so beautiful! You know, we have a girl in the class who is very beautiful – she is not afraid of anyone!

– Does everyone like her?

– N-no. I don't know. Well, she's kind of, you know, just beautiful and that's it. It is banal! And what does it mean "banal" – like a banana? Ordinary?

– Why, like a banana? – Rain surprised. – Not necessarily like a banana. But yes, without a twist! Not original.

– What happened further to the beautiful flower? – Alinka reminded him.

– And what do you think? What happened to him?

– What do you mean, what I think? – Alinka surprised. – It is you who are telling me a story! How can I know what happened further to him?

– I don't know too, – whispered the waning rain. – Think of it yourself…

– Hey, hey! It's not fair! Where are you going? Stop!!! No, well, he can't stand, I guess. Go back! Gone, finished… and what about the story? Was he get offended? Well, that's fine. Well, let it be. I haven't finished my homework yet. And the rain, it's not going anywhere – it's autumn after all! He'll come back without the least effort! So, what page were we on?…

The third rain

Tricky rain came when Alinka was at school. She missed half the lesson, and at school breaktime she went to the window and tried to speak. But he didn't pay any attention to her at all. When the lessons were over, the rain also stopped, and Alinka wandered home completely alone.

At home, she even washed the dishes and sat down to do her homework. She wanted to do everything in time, so that when the rain would come, she could hear the rest of the story in peace.

He came just as Alinka was going to go to bed. She ran to the window.

– Well, what are you! Where did you disappear? I'm waiting for you! And you! Why didn't you want to talk to me?

– Alinka, hi! I can't talk to you when you're at school or when you're not alone. Well, did you invent the story continuation?

– Should I have to invent it? I've been waiting for you to tell me what happened further with the beautiful sad flower. This is your story!

– No, this is not my story now – I told it to you! It's our story now, and you could as well invent of what happened further.

– I can't, I can't make up stories.

– You can. You just have to try it and that's it! If you can hear me, then you can make it up yourself, too. You just have to think a little. What could happen to a small, unique flower in a strange country? Think about it!

– What could happen? Terrible things could happen! Remember those light green flowers on the meadow? They were upset because the flower was so bright and beautiful. He also didn't understand anything and could just wither away from sadness. That's it! Do you like this story?

– No, I don't like this kind of story. Of course, in life, this often happens when someone is not like anyone at all, it is difficult for him, I will not argue. But, firstly, the flowers were wrongly afraid that the bees would no longer notice them, because bees find inflorescences by smell, and since they used to pollinate these flowers, they will continue to do it. Secondly, our flower has had one remarkable feature. Haven't you noticed? By the way, just because this feature has been possessed by all living in that beautiful country – the flower could not die there.

– What kind of feature is this? – Alinka surprised. – And why do you speak so strange? This feature can't be shared by everyone! That's why it's a unique feature.

– Of course, you're right! But remember the story. Did you find anything strange or surprising in it, well, if you forget for a moment that it's a story… How did all the inhabitants of that country look like a random guest?

– Yes! I know, I know: the flower admired everyone, and everyone admired the flower. Right?

– Yes. Well done! Of course, to make a story, you can invent some sad things about envy and loneliness, and fear, but…

– But, – Alinka interrupted, – everything will be noticed later! And the flower will ripen the seeds, and next spring there will be many, many colorful petals on that meadow!

– Of course, I like this continuation. After all, the main thing is what? That all the heroes of our story know how to admire beauty, they know how to admire not themselves, but those who are next to them. But it's great, isn't it?! So now you can create a wonderful story yourself. Then you can tell me later. Agreed?

– Agreed. When you're gone, I'll continue this story. But you will tell me your story about this. From start to finish! Can you make it in time?

– I'll try very much. Just go to the bed, cover yourself up, and go to sleep.

– What do you mean, go to sleep? Aren't you…

– Don't worry, I'm not going to lie to you. I'll tell you the story myself, from the very beginning to the end, and you'll hear it. And if you accidentally fall asleep, you will see the continuation of the story in a dream. I promise you. Don't be afraid!

– And I'm not afraid. Tell me. I have covered up. What's the name of your story?