The rain was big. The shelter was just enough.
A Drop Too Close
Nuri had found a good place to wait out the rain.
The little fairy sat on a mossy log with a broad leaf held over her head. Its stem rested against her shoulder. A bundle of pollen lay beside her, wrapped in a dry petal.
Dot the beetle climbed onto the log just as a drop fell from the leaf. It landed beside the bundle.
“That was close,” Dot said.
Nuri looked up. Rain tapped across the leaf, gathering into shining beads. Another drop travelled towards the pointed edge and fell in the same place.
“The roof works,” she said. “It’s the edge that needs help.”
She had promised to bring the pollen to Tansy at the flower patch when the rain allowed.
Dot stood beneath a mushroom growing from the log. “Would you like me to hold the bundle?”
“Thank you. Let’s see where the next drop goes first.”
Where the Water Goes
Nuri lifted the leaf higher. Water still ran along the same vein and gathered at the same point.
Dot watched the little stream. “It follows that line.”
Nuri tilted the stem to her left. The next drop rolled along a different vein and fell beyond the bundle.
“There,” she said.
Dot stepped out from under the mushroom. A fresh drop landed in front of his feet.
“Oh,” Nuri said. “That’s your path.”
Dot looked at the wet spot. “It is today.”
She turned the leaf back. They watched another drop gather above the petal. Nuri caught it on her fingertip before it fell, but the next one was already coming.
“I can’t catch all of them.”
“Not if you want to keep holding the roof,” Dot said.
He found a raised patch of moss near the mushroom, sheltered and clear of the wet edge.
“Would the bundle fit here?” he asked.
A Safer Corner
Nuri passed it to him. Dot carried it to the raised patch and set it down. One corner of the petal touched the moss, so he folded it neatly over the top.
“Is that better?” he called.
Nuri leaned towards him without tipping the leaf. “Yes. Can you still get past it?”
Dot walked around the bundle and returned to the mushroom. “There’s room.”
They still needed somewhere for the water to go. Nuri turned the leaf slowly towards the far side of the log, where no one was sitting or walking.
A bead gathered at the edge. Both watched it grow.
“Ready?” she asked.
Dot looked at the empty patch below. “Ready.”
The drop fell onto the bare wood, away from the bundle and Dot’s path.
Another followed it. Then another.
Nuri settled the stem against her shoulder again. “Now it knows where to go.”
Dot studied the drops. “I think you’re doing most of the directing.”
“Then I hope they’re paying attention.”
The Last Customer
The rain softened until Nuri could hear water dripping from the leaves above them. Dot checked the bundle. The petal remained dry, and the pollen stayed tucked inside.
A patch of sunlight reached the far end of the log. Nuri raised the leaf carefully. One last drop slid along its vein and fell onto the empty wood.
“Your last customer,” Dot said.
“Then the roof can close.”
She lowered the leaf beside the mushroom. Dot brought the bundle back to her, and Nuri tucked it under her arm.
“Will you come to the flower patch?” she asked.
“Yes. I’d like to see whether Tansy stayed dry too.”
They set off together along the log. Behind them, the leaf held a few bright drops, but none fell while they watched.
Livora Gracely ♥
Leave a Reply