The Rain Fairy

Juana Isabel laughed, "It is time for me to gather beautiful flowers! I think it may rain so I do not think I will go. I do need roses to place in and around the house though," she continued, "But I may be stuck inside and forced to draw instead. I do not like rainy days!"

Due to the humidity, two enormous tears formed in Juana Isabel's eyes. The world appeared fuzzy for a moment until the tears fell on a red rose. The Rose, rooted in the arid earth, waited patiently for any possible rain and when the moisture provided by Juana's tears fell upon her, the Rose looked up and smiled.

Juana Isabel was almost certain she heard the Rose speak and could not believe it. "Maybe if I was only six years old I would believe it, but now, what a shock!" pondered Juana. At this, Juana Isabel smiled and her tears disappeared like the mist off the plain when it is hit by the rising sun.

"I am honored." said the Rose.

"Was it the large Rose who said that or was it me that imagined it?" Juana wondered aloud, "My mother said I have been letting my imagination run wild!"

Outside of Juana's house, white roses bloom on the sides of the walkway and there are others nestled in green bushes. Juana Isabel, in her desire to reach one of the largest and most beautiful roses, loses her balance and falls into the bushes.

"Excuse me!" a familiar voice calls out, "Could you be so kind as to not walk in my wardrobe? My daughters are there, busy putting on their new dresses!"

"Oh, I am so embarrassed!" exclaims Juana, "I did not see your wardrobe and I would never enter without permission! I cannot believe I am talking to a flower!"

The Rose explains that her children are "getting dressed" and are slowly putting on their "dresses" to become splendid roses.

"Are they real?" asks Juana. "They do not look like anything I have ever seen before."

"Oh yes!" said the Rose. "There are Summer Roses who dress up in May, June and July. There are Autumn Roses who remain dressed from May to the first frost…" Juana was fascinated and she asks how all of this happens.

The Rose replied that it did not know for sure but attempted to explain:

"Mother Nature is the one who makes it all happen and no one knows how she does it. We know that after constant showers, though, the plants grow and are ready to bloom. This is a unique attribute of Mother Nature. She is a beautiful Fairy who looks at the forest when it is dry and decides that she should cry-much like you did-and her tears are like a light drizzle that quenches the land. The air becomes humid and makes the plants grow vigorously."

In that exact moment, Mother Nature cried and it began to rain and Juana Isabel finished gathering the roses.

"It is still hard to believe," Juana mused, "how roses speak and the how they change what they are wearing to become beautiful flowers."

Juana ran back to the house with her basket full of roses, all covered in rainwater.

"What is this?" Her mother asked, thanking her for the basket of beautiful roses. "Are you a Rain Fairy or a rose colored button covered in mist?"