3

Little Rainy knew nothing about the mother, and was still waiting for her return.
Days gone by, but the mother was still not returning.
The Persian Chrysanthemum began blossoming.
The wind turns chilly.
When the woods were covered in oranges leaves, the Little Rainy could stand on its own.
“Hmm… maybe I should go out and have a look.”
It’s November now.
Little Rainy walked towards the village with a curious yet slow pace. All that’s in his mind was sugar.
(The sugar must have been really tasty! I wonder if mother had been eating the sugar. Perhaps she’d forgotten about me when she gets to eat the sugar.)
“I must walk faster.” Little Rainy told himself as he began to run.
However, that was, that was described by the mother. It wasn’t there. Not to mention canes, there wasn’t even a single grass on that land. It’s empty.
“Huh?”
Little Rainy paused for a while, and asked himself “Have I been at the wrong place? But the farmers seemed so familiar. Oh! It’s her! I remember her! The lady farmer!”
“Lady farmer! Where is the sugar field?” shouted the Little Rainy as he ran over to her.
The lady farmer was then reminded only when she saw the little fairy.
(Ah, this must be her child!)
However, the lady farmer acted as if she did not know the little fairy.
“What? Sugar field? You mean sugar cane?”
The little fairy nodded his head.
But the lady farmer replied with a cold and unfriendly tone: “The sugar canes? They were chopped off days ago. They were sold to the factory with 10 trucks!”
Little Fairy was stunned, then he asked “Chopped off? Sold? What about the sugar that dropped from the canes?”
The lady farmer laughed as she heard this: “Hahaha. Sugar never fell from trees! They have to be processed by the machine in the factory.”
“But… but… you promised to give us sugar…”
“What? What promise? I never promise anything.” Said the lady farmer as she turn her head away.
“Impossible! You promised to give us sugar when Summer ends! Isn’t it? Isn’t it?”
“Ridiculous! Get away from me!” the farmer shouted at the fairy and pushed him away.
“I have such a big family to feed, there’s nothing left for outsiders.”
She left as she made her point clear and loud.

Not far away, the fairy could see a factory producing smoke. That must be the sugar processing factory! “We’ve been cheated!” It was then he realized the whole story.
“Mommy…”
As the fairy began crying, something shiny flashed by his eyes. (Huh? What was that?)
He ran over to the side of the field, and was stunned by what he saw.
It was the silver horn his mother used to summon the clouds! The one that dropped from the sky as his mother disappeared…
(Mommy’s gone…)
Now, he understood.
Out of a sudden, there’s a glow in his eyes.
“I must grow up to be a capable fairy!”
The fairy even vowed “And when I grew up, I must create a thunderstorm in this village! The houses in the village shall be flooded!”
Little Rainy grabbed the silver horn and returned to the woods.


4

Years gone by.
The village seemed peaceful. The field was again, filled with tonnes of canes and the production of sugar kept on rising.
The lady farmer gained age and got old. Time had given her a crooked back and a bad hearing.

One day, this old lady summoned her grand-daughter and said: “Dear, could you get some sugar for Rainy?”
“What” the grand-daughter seemed shocked. “What ‘Rainy’?”
To make her understand the situation, the old lady told her the whole story without leaving any detail.
The grand-daughter listened carefully and said: “The Little Rainy must have been living in hardship.”
Then, the old lady told her to get some sugar for the fairy again.
But a few days later, the old lady passed away.

When the harvesting season arrived, there was a weird thunderstorm that hit the village without a single alarm.
The rain lasted for days and the thunder was striking very loudly. Soon, the river level began rising.
“The bridge was damaged!”
“Let’s flee on the boats!”
“No! We’ll get on to the hills!”
It has never been so serious, and the people had never faced such a dreadful drama.
“No! My crops!”
“Not just the crops! Out houses are flooded too!”
This time, the grand-daughter remembered what was told by the grandmother.
“It’s the fairy! The fairy got angry! Mom, give the fairy some sugar!”
The mother was puzzled and she found it hard to understand what she heard.
“Sugar! Sugar!”
The little girl rushed herself into the kitchen, grabbed a bottle of sugar and ran outside.
“No! Don’t go out!” the mother rushed over to her daughter, but couldn’t catch up with her.
Looking at her daughter’s red skirt, getting smaller and smaller, it finally disappeared in the heavy rain.
After a while, the rain miraculously stopped.
The sky turned calm and the sun emerged again. The villagers got saved from this disaster.
However, the little girl never returned even though the disaster had ended and the village was restored.
“She must have fallen into the river… Poor girl…” mumbled by the public.
Some thought that she was gone, but some said she was seen in the woods when they were lost.
“There was a girl with red skirt that showed me the road to the village.”
“How does she look like? What’s her hair and voice like?”
“I couldn’t remember her face, but her voice was gentle. I could see her silver hair under the glowing moonlight.”
“….” The people stared at each other.
“Oh! And there was a boy with silver hair too! They gave me some drinks.”
“Drinks? Could it be… water with sugar?”
“Perhaps. It was tasty.”
“Well then, it’s her. She went out with a bottle of sugar…”

The villagers tried to look for her in the woods. They’ve even formed themselves in groups in search of her. But they failed.
There was nothing…

(END)




Postscript:

    After reading this story, I’d like to share about me and my mother. What the Mother Fairy and my mother both have in common, is their compassionate and gentle heart. My mother is always doing her best and enduring for the sake of her kids, just like the Mother Fairy had done for her child. There is never a complaint from her even if it stresses her. We’re always the center of her life, and she’d put us at the first place, giving us the best she could have offered. Sometimes, we’d act like the Little Fairy, behaving like a baby. Nevertheless, mother had never talked to us fiercely, but with her gentle and heart-warming tone. My mother always hoped that we could do well on our study and become capable person on the road of kosen-rufu. Similarly, this is just like Mother Fairy, hoping for her child to grow up to become a strong fairy. I’ve always wanted to tell her that I’ll make her wish come true! Don’t worry!

    It is quite often that we have lots of request towards our parents, hoping for one thing or another. However, have you ever thought of being your parents’ hope one day? Yet, what is our parents’ hope on us? I believe that all the parents in the world would have had the same thought, hoping for the children’s absolute happiness. Can you make it? Even for such a tiny little wish? Ikeda Sensei’s mother told her children: “No matter what you’ve done, I’d be glad as long as you live happily in your life.” Until today, Ikeda Sensei is still being grateful towards his mother. She’d never forced him to be anyone in the future. The father’s seaweed business went down, fallen sick, living in poverty, it was as if it couldn’t be any worse… However, it was Ikeda Sensei’s mother’s optimism that saved the family from all these hardships.

    How can we realize such a wish? Greeting everyday’s challenge with an optimistic attitude, and becoming a child that does not make our mother worry. No matter if we’re being in a tough environment or any other hardship, we must face these challenges like a sun, as the sun will never disappear. The sun might have been covered by dark clouds at times, but in the end, it’ll come back out again, shining brightly on earth. This is the spirit of “Rising Sun”! Please believe that your power of happiness could be very influential, even towards your mother. When you’re happy, you’d find that your mother would be even happier! If you could smile everyday like a pretty flower, then you’ve succeeded!

    Our mothers are doing their best, being with us everyday, and that is why we’ve hardly think of ever appreciating what they’ve done for us. “Cherish” is a word that possesses love and gratitude. Love – learn to love and appreciate what your mother’s done for you; Gratitude – be grateful towards our mother. We should tell our mothers how much we thank her for all her reminders, her home-made dishes… We must cherish her, and she’d love us even more!

    From this story, we know that the Mother Fairy had sacrificed her life to water the farm. In my opinion, Mother Fairy sacrificed herself gloriously, painting rainbow in the sky with her very last power. She thought she could leave the sugar for her child, but wasn’t aware of being cheated by the farmer. In the end, the farmer came to realize on her sin and told everything to her grand-daughter. Being asked to bring sugar to the fairy, the little girl’s kindness had saved the village.

    Ikeda Sensei wrote a song that praised the Soka Gakkai’s mothers, known as “Mother”. They’re not only gentle mothers in every family, but are great disciples on the road of kosen-rufu too. “…if it wasn’t for your accompaniment, we would float aimlessly…” This proves that mothers are an important person in a family and on the road of kosen-rufu. Hence, we must cherish every single mother, as they’re the Superwoman in out hearts!


Shared by,
Wee Yean.

Labels: n. Story palace