By Amanda Pizzolatto (alias Aurora Mandeville)
Word Count: 386
Rating: G
Summary: A tale of how rain clouds came to be.
Many eons ago, before the lands were populated by the peoples, the elements were busy getting the world ready for their arrival. The first nine elements soon became eighteen, and then there were many different variations of each one. They worried not about names, that was to be the job of the peoples who would inhabit their little masterpiece. They concentrated only on making the world perfect and habitable, as the Great One had told them to do while He gathered the peoples. But then, they came across an unexpected problem. Water provided fresh streams, lakes, and ponds for the peoples to drink from, but how was he going to keep them filled, especially when the streams and rivers flowed back to his domain in the sea?
The children of Sun often played with the waves of the sea, delighting Water immensely with their beauty and warmth. Many droplets of his element would evaporate into air, disappearing into the vastness above. The children of the Sun had no clue what to do; nothing they did caught Sun’s or Water’s attention, nor did they listen to Fire.
Then, desperately worried over the needs of the others, Fire began to dance, and dance wildly. Wood screamed when she realized what Fire was doing to her trees and plants, burning them into ashes. But Fire did not listen, did not stop when everyone asked her to, only swung faster and faster, wilder and wilder. Then everyone stopped shouting at her, for they saw something amazing happening. Both Sun and Water noticed Fire’s dance, and began moving towards the land to investigate. Sun could see quite well from his place in the sky, but Water had no clear view and asked Sun to help him. Sun did, turning Water into clouds in the process. When Water moved over the land, he blocked Sun’s view, and water droplets began falling from the clouds. It rushed down in torrents as Water watched Fire’s dance. Everyone cheered: Fire had brought Water to the land. Then, everyone stopped cheering, Fire’s dance was slowing, her light was growing dimmer, her breaths came in gasps. Then, in one final effort, she rose into the air, meeting with the rain falling from Water’s clouds, the two meeting for the first time and the last, as Fire disappeared from everyone’s sights the instant she touched the clouds.