"Is it going to rain all day long?" the fairy said. Sunny wasn’t feeling too sunny at this moment. She wanted to fly around Periwinkle Glen and play with all her friends, Mouse, Grasshopper and Dragonfly, but right now, all she could do was sit under the puffy brown mushroom and wait until the raindrops stopped falling. Butterfly sat next to her, trying not to get her wings wet. Sunny’s chin lay in her hand and a pout decorated her face. "I want it to stop raining. I never want it to rain again!" Butterfly nodded her head and agreed.
After a while the rain stopped. Drops of rain dripped from every leaf on every branch of every tree. They dripped from the flower petals and from the prickly purple thistle. The animals of the meadow came out of their homes to sip the water. Frog jumped into a puddle and splashed water all over a tall, peach-colored iris. Ladybug flew from raindrop to raindrop, looking at her reflection and giggling. Squirrel stood under the leaves and caught the drops in his mouth. Sunny didn’t notice any of it. She and Butterfly climbed out from under the mushroom. They shook their wings off and Sunny smiled when she felt the sun’s warmth on her face. "This is much better. The sky is blue, the sun is out and there’s no rain!"
Day after day Sunny and Butterfly played in the meadow. They played leapfrog; they flew between the tree trunks and threw soft, fluffy clover balls at each other. It didn’t rain and both of them were very happy. After a while Sunny began to notice something. Instead of being bright yellow like her dress, the sunflowers were nodding and turning brown. The blue morning glories were shriveling up. The stream that runs through the glen got smaller and didn’t flow as fast and the tall grasses were yellowing.
One day she was walking through the grass and heard soft whimpers. She parted the grass and saw that it was Mouse. "What’s the matter, Mouse?" she asked. Butterfly flew down to the ground and landed next to them. She was concerned too. Mouse started to cry and told Sunny how her children were thirsty and there was no water. Sunny told her to take them to the stream and get them a drink.
No matter where she went in Periwinkle Glen, all the animals seemed to be sad. Some were crying and others were lying down, too thirsty to move. "Butterfly, all the animals in the meadow are thirsty. I want the sunflowers to be yellow. I want the violets to be purple and the roses to be red. Everything is turning brown, even the grass. We need some rain!" Butterfly nodded her head. "Oh, Butterfly. I wished that it would never rain again, but I see that we do need the rain so that the flowers will grow and the animals can have drinks. The stream needs to be full so that it will flow through the meadow. The deer and bears and raccoons all need to drink from it. I want it to rain again, Butterfly," she sighed.
Sunny didn’t sleep well that night. She couldn’t stop thinking about poor Mouse and how sad she was or how brown the leaves were turning on the oak tree. In the morning, when dawn came, it began to rain. It rained and it rained. All day long it rained. Sunny was so happy. Butterfly was so happy. Mouse and Ladybug were happy. Squirrel was happy and so was Raccoon. The sunflowers became a brighter yellow than Sunny had ever seen them. The stream filled with cool water and flowed quickly through the meadow. The leaves turned green and stood straight up, reaching for the raindrops, drinking them all in. "This is much better. Periwinkle Glen needs water. I’m thankful for the rain," she laughed. She and Butterfly chased each other through the wet meadow. Drops drizzled in her eyes and got her pretty red hair wet. Her dress got soaking wet too, but Sunny was happy. Everyone in the meadow was happy.
