1

Once, there lived some Fairy of Rain in the woods. These fairies have shiny silver hair. There’s a fairy named Mother Rainy and her child named Little Rainy.

The Mother Rainy is closed to the farmers. Whenever there’s a drought, she’d create rain for the crops. In return, the farmers would give her biscuits, cakes, or cloth to thank her. Little Rainy would stay in the woods and await for these gifts.

One day, Mother Rainy got herself some dry powder.
“Mommy, what is this?” asked the Little Rainy as her eyes rolled bigger.
“This is called fine sugar. It’s a gift from the farmers as I helped them watered the crops.” explaind the mother.
“Just this much?”
“Yes. Not much farmer could afford such tasty food. I’ve tried this before, so I’ll leave this for you.”
As she explained, Little Rainy gulped down the sugar and satisfied herself in the taste of sweetness.
Since then, Little Rainy got addicted with sugar and never wanted to try other foods anymore. Whenever the mother brought back foods like plums or grapes, she’s refuse to eat it.
“No! No! No! I want sugar!” yelled Little Rainy.
The mother surrendered helplessly and answered “Fine then, mommy will try to ask for it on the next time.”
“No! I want it now!” shouted the Little Rainy as she kicked the plums and grapes on to the floor.
(Sigh, she’d get skinny if this goes on…)

One night, when the little baby was asleep, Mother Rainy came to the farmers.
“Hey, how are you?”
The mother spoke with a gentle and soft voice as her silver hair dance gracefully in the wind.
“I’m fine” replied the farmer.
The farmer opened the door and greeted the fairy “Oh isn’t this Mother Rainy? We had thunderstorm just now, I think we won’t need your help tonight.”
“Oh no, I’ve come to request… Could you, give me some  fine sugar?”
“Sugar?” replied the farmer with a puzzled expression.
“You wanted to have some sugar?”
“No, it’s for my child.”
“Ah, I see…”
The lady farmer was “smart” and she replied the fairy with a gentle tone too: “What a coincident… Our kids have finished them up, I don’t even have a bit of it left…”
“Is it?” replied Mother Rainy as she turned disappointed. Suddenly, the farmer came out with something as if she remembered something: “But… we have a sugar tree.”
The fairy got confused and asked: “There is such a thing as sugar tree?”
“Yes, yes. Come, I’ll bring you there.” grinned the lady farmer as her golden tooth shines from her mouth.
(Huh? Is that money she put in her mouth?) wondered the Mother Rainy as she felt freaky.
The lady farmer then led the way as she walked with a fast pace.
“In the field up on the hills, over there. They plant sugar cane there. There’s where I get my sugar from.” said the lady farmer as she pointed at the field.
Then, she explained further “We planted those sugar canes in the beginning of the year, out of expectation, we get to collect lots of sugar from them.”
The fairy got so amazed and delighted. She thought that sugar canes are like plum trees and grapes, having fruits that blossom in every season. She thought that sugar cane produces sugar as fruits.
“But, I have something that I’d like to discuss with you.” The lady farmer got closer to the fairy and began to talk with a softer tone.
“Why don’t you come over and give me a hand this Summer? If there’s a drought during Summer, these sugar canes are not going to survive! Just come over to our field and water the sugar canes.”
Mother Rainy was thinking about this as it seems profitable.
“You don’t even have to think! If you come over, you can have all the sugar you want!”
“Really?”
“Yes! Yes! Look at the size of the field! There’s more than enough!”
The mother nodded her head as she listened.
“Well, alright then! I’ll help you out during the Summer.” promised the fairy. Then, she returned to the woods happily.
“Dear baby, please wait until Autumn. When it’s Autumn, we’ll have all the sugar we want. But in return, mommy has to work for the whole Summer.”
Under the silvery moonlight, the baby slept tight in the mother’s arms. The mother hoped so much that her baby could someday, grow up to be a strong and helpful Rain Fairy.


2
The sugar canes grew tall and straight.
The leaves sang in the wind on a sunny day. The field turned dark green when it’s filled with tonnes of canes!
“Mommy, has the sugar canes grew up yet?”
“Yes, my dear. They’re big and tall now.”
“Are the leaves sweet?”
The mother smiled as she heard the child spoke.
“How would you know if the leaves are sweet?” asked the Mother.
“Hmm… well then… which part of the tree should be sweet?”
“Hmm… about that…”
Come to think of it, Mother Fairy doesn’t even know the answer. She thought that during Autumn, sugar will fill the whole farm like snow!
The birds sang in happy tune and the sun raised high up in the sky.
Summer has arrived!
However, the wind still blows into the woods and Mother Rainy didn’t know it was Summer already. Hence, the lady farmer rushed into the woods, grabbed Mother Rainy and shouted furiously at her: “What’s got into you! Don’t you know it’s Summer now!?”
“….” Mother Fairy was shocked by her sudden act.
“Look at the sun!” the lady farmer shouted as she points at the sun with a fierce look in her eyes.
“That’s the sign of drought! Our field and farms are all dried up!”
“I’m sorry, it’s my mistake.” The mother apologized to the farmer.
“Get out there now! Or the sugar canes are all going to dry up!”
Little Rainy got scared by the farmer’s action, hiding in the blanket, he didn’t even dare to make a sound.
All he did, was to silently watch as the farmer dragged his mother out to work.
This time, the drought turns really drastic.
The roads are cracking and the field is dried up.
“Look! Look at our canes!”
The lady farmer kept on blaming the fault on the mother.
“You had better make it rain now! Let it rain or you’ll never get a single bit of sugar.”
Feeling guilty, Mother Rainy immediately jumped up into the sky and summon the dark clouds with a magical horn.
It rained, but it lasted just a while. It is almost impossible to rely on the mother alone, to revive such a large piece of land. The steamy sun never stopped shining as every raindrop evaporated right away. For the first time, rain was never enough for the land.
The farmer was still furious: “Keep it on! Keep it on!”
The rain lasted for a few hours as the mother drained all her energy to summon the clouds. At the end, the land was moisturized once again, but the mother fell back on to the land.

Mother Fairy worked herself to the fullest in the long steamy Summer. She never stopped dreaming the day when the sugar blossoms from the cane though…
Yes… Dream… It feels like a dream while she worked… It felt like as if the body was made from cotton, that someday, it will be soaking wet. She couldn’t resist to think that, someday, she’d turn into one of the raindrop and fell on the land.
(No! I can’t let that happen!)
The mother reminded herself continuously as she worked restlessly.
At the end of the Summer, Mother Rainy turned into a rainbow in the sky, and “poof”, she disappeared….

(to be continued…)

Labels: n. Story palace