Legend Of Why It Rains By Sophia Preys

Many years ago there were many living creatures in the sky. They were called sky clouds. Most of the time they didn't quarrel. For entertainment the sky clouds would have ceremonies. At the ceremonies, they would dance and eat. The food they ate was stews and soups with corn, beans, squash, and wild turkey in them. They would also have cornbread with the soups and stews. The stews and soups were cooked in pots. Up in the sky where the sky clouds lived it was mostly windy. Sometimes it was cloudy because other sky clouds lived above them. They always did chores. Even the little kid sky clouds. When the little sky clouds weren't doing chores, they would play with beaded dolls or they would games. The most important game was Stick-ball. Whole villages would play against each other. That was a part of their culture. They also had strong beliefs about the sun. They believed in a good spirit and and evil spirit. That is because the sun was known for the power of life and death. The good spirit that the sky clouds believed in was the life and the evil spirit was the death. The sky clouds had a chief who took care of all the sky clouds. The chief's daughter also took care of the sky clouds. The chief was called Chief Skyline and his daughter was called Clouding. Chief Skyline had a grayish body and wore a gray puffy robe. He had white, silky hair and black shoes. Clouding had very straight and gray hair and most of the time she wore it in a bun. She too wore a gray and puffy robe and black shoes. She also had gray diamond earrings and whenever anyone on the ground had a quarrel, her earrings would light up yellow. Whenever any sky clouds had quarrels, Clouding's earrings would light up dark red. Then they would blink thirteen times and the chief and his daughter would slowly start to disappear. The only way for the sky clouds to stop the chief and his daughter from disappearing would be to stop quarreling within one minute. Then the chief and his daughter would turn their normal gray color and Clouding's earrings would stop glowing. But if the sky clouds did not stop quarreling, their chief and his daughter would disappear forever. The sky clouds had quarreled twice before and they had stopped within 39 seconds. 
      One day a sky cloud came to live with the other sky clouds. Chief Skyline and Clouding decided to call him Skyscraper. They thought that when he was older he would be a very smart sky cloud. But they were wrong. When he grew older, he was mean to other sky clouds and tried to start quarrels. Chief Skyline and Clouding had told him about how they disappear if sky clouds quarreled but he didn't seem to care about the chief or the chief's daughter. He liked to make others mad. The sky clouds that he teased didn't say anything to Skyscraper when he was mean. They just ignored him so Chief Skyline and Clouding wouldn't fade away forever. Skyscraper tried so hard to make the chief and his daughter disappear. He tried to think of the meanest thing to say to a sky cloud but all he could think of were things that weren't that mean. Finally he thought of something really mean to say. He said it to Clouted, a pretty sky cloud who usually just ignored Skyscraper. This time she was so mad that she screamed. Then Skyscraper shouted and shouted. Clouding's earrings started glowing dark red. Chief Skyline shouted "30 seconds of quarreling. Stop!". Skyscraper didn't stop and he slapped a sky cloud named Sky on his head. Sky ignored Skyscraper. There were 5 seconds left until Chief Skyline and Clouding disappeared forever. They were slowly fading and all the sky clouds were screaming and quarreling. Then the time was up. Suddenly, Chief Skyline and Clouding were gone. Everyone was very sad. They stopped screaming and quarreling. Then Skyscraper had a guilty feeling. He felt very sorry for himself. It was all his fault that the chief and the chief's daughter were gone and every single sky cloud knew that. 
               All of the sky clouds were crying a lot and wouldn't stop. They cried so much that their tears went through the cloud that the sky clouds lived on. The tears fell under the clouds and to the ground. The tears made tear stains on the ground. People who lived on the ground stared out the window. Then they all stepped outside. "Let's call this rain!" some shouted. People tilted their heads backward and stuck their tongues out. "It's delicious water!" they said. Up in the clouds the sky clouds stopped crying and the people on the ground went back inside their houses. Now whenever anyone in the sky or on the ground have quarrels, it rains. Sometimes there is what people call thunder when Skyscraper is with the rest of the sky clouds. Even though he doesn't start quarrels anymore because he realized how bad it is, sky clouds still think he is bad. When there is lightning, Chief Skyline and Clouding are in the air and whispering to the sky clouds "Don't feel sad. We are happy in heaven." The flashing lights are Clouding's earrings that always flash from now on and never ever stop. If it is ever raining, you will know that someone in the world had a quarrel.

       

This photo is from Moyan_ Brenn