The Perfect Gift

Little Drizzle lived with her parents Mother Mist and Father Fog in a large, wet cave in the middle of the Windy Woods. During the day Mother Mist traveled to the outside world spreading her gauzy clouds at the bottom of crashing waterfalls and along the rocky beaches of the ocean. Father Fog was also very busy draping his thick, damp banners at the tops of mountains and along wet city streets. Little Drizzle would wait anxiously for the evening when she and her parents would sing, tell stories and laugh together. But in the daytime she was very lonely.

Each morning Little Drizzle would practice her reading and writing. She used waterproof ink and thin leather paper because everything she touched soon became quite wet. Little Drizzle was used to being wet but the woodland animals who preferred to remain dry and comfortable, avoided her. After she finished her homework Little Drizzle would wander about in the woods gathering interesting leaves and stones. She often made up stories and riddles to tell her parents and sometimes she built tree forts or dammed up the stream. But oh, how she wished for a friend to share her adventures.

All the animals in Windy Woods watched over Little Drizzle and kept her from harm. She was not allowed to leave the woods for any reason. Sometimes Little Drizzle would climb a tree at the edge of the woods and look out over the meadows. She loved to watch the wind tumble over the long grass and flowers. Everything seemed so bright and colourful beyond the woods.

One day Little Drizzle was perched in her favorite tree looking at the lovely field when she saw a Sunbeam dance over the hill. How pretty she looked in her yellow dress with her hair falling about her laughing face. Little Drizzle waved and called out to the Sunbeam. But alas the wind carried her voice in the wrong direction. The Sunbeam gathered an armful of flowers and skipped back over the hill. Little Drizzle watched for the rest of the afternoon but the Sunbeam did not return.

That evening Little Drizzle told her parents about the Sunbeam. "Why, I know where she lives," said Father Fog, "If you'd like I could deliver a note to her house tomorrow morning."

Little Drizzle was quite excited. She wrote a polite note to the Sunbeam telling her about the tree overlooking the field of flowers and inviting her to come to the Woods to play. The next afternoon Little Drizzle sat in her tree and anxiously watched the hill where the Sunbeam had first appeared. Sure enough the Sunbeam ran into the meadow. She wandered around in the middle of the field scanning the treetops but she didn't seem able to see or hear Little Drizzle, who was frantically waving and signaling from her treetop. Finally the Sunbeam put a small leather book on top of a boulder in the field and weighed it down with another rock. Then she skipped back over the hill again.

That evening Little Drizzle asked Father Fog to go and get the Sunbeam's leather book. He brought it back to the cave and Little Drizzle could hardly wait to open it. All of the pages inside the book turned out to be empty except for the first page which contained a letter from the Sunbeam!

"Dear Little Drizzle, Thank you very much for your letter. I would like to come and play with you but my parents say that I am too weak to enter the dark woods this year. I would love to have a friend. All the creatures I would like to play with say I make them too warm. Can you come to my house? If not, please write me a letter in this little book and have your father leave it in the field. Lots of love, Sunbeam
P.S. My Dad says could Father Fog please not come to our house in the morning anymore because it gave Mother Sun a lot of trouble starting work today."

Little Drizzle begged her parents to let her go to Sunbeam's house to play, but they were firmly opposed. "You are not big enough to leave the shelter of the trees," they insisted, "We don't want you to evaporate. But write back to your friend as often as you like and we will deliver your messages."

Little Drizzle wrote Sunbeam a long letter. She described her house in the big cave and her favorite spots to look for mushrooms. She told Sunbeam about her tree-fort and copied down her best poem. Then Little Drizzle wrapped her favourite blue pebble up in a large leaf and tied it to the book as a present for Sunbeam. Mother Mist delivered the package to the boulder in the meadow and Little Drizzle watched the next afternoon as Sunbeam gathered it up.

That evening Father Fog came home with the small leather book and a great big bunch of daisies. Sunbeam had written an even longer letter to Little Drizzle. The letter described her house at the edge of the meadow and her mother's busy job. She had also included an exciting story about a moon dragon.

That was the beginning of a wonderful correspondence between the two little girls. The small leather book was soon filled and replaced by another and then another. They wrote about their dreams and their favorite jokes. They helped each other with their mathematics homework. They designed a dream hideout with dozens of rooms and mysterious passages. They even invented a secret language and translated their stories.

Little Drizzle's days now passed quickly and happily. She was always thinking of some way to please and entertain her friend. She charmed the Giant Spider with a basket of fat grubs and convinced her to weave a wonderful lacey cap and shawl for Sunbeam. She climbed the tallest trees for empty bird's eggs and hunted in the stream for treasures to send her friend. Sunbeam sent Little Drizzle seashells, exotic feathers and blossoms from her sunny domain. They both spent hours searching for the perfect gift but they both agreed that nothing seemed perfect enough to reflect their friendship.

And then suddenly it was Little Drizzle's tenth birthday. "You are substantial enough now," said Father Fog. "Tomorrow you can go out into the meadow." Little Drizzle couldn't sleep for excitement. She would finally be face to face with her dear friend.

The next afternoon Little Drizzle went to the edge of the forest and watched. She saw Sunbeam come to their boulder and look for the leather book. She looked sad and worried to find their rock empty. Then Little Drizzle stepped out of the woods and walked toward her friend. "Here I am!" she called.

Sunbeam saw Little Drizzle coming out of the woods. She ran through the grass to greet her. "Why, I can almost see right through you," she cried, "No wonder I could never find you among the trees." The two friends stopped and looked at one another, suddenly feeling shy. "I've brought my nicest marbles for us to play with," said Drizzle, "If you don't mind getting a little damp we could sit down and look at them together." Sunbeam smiled, "That sounds great," she said, "So long as you don't mind feeling a little scorched."

The two of them sat side by side in the grass looking at the colourful marbles. Their shyness fell away and Little Drizzle flung one arm over Sunbeam's shoulders. "I'm so happy to see you at last," she said. Sunbeam looked up and smiled. Then she saw the sky. "Look at what we've made!" she gasped, "It's perfect!"

When Father Fog passed over the Windy Woods that afternoon he saw a most amazing sight. An arc of coloured light was shining up from the meadow. The friendship of Sunbeam and Little Drizzle had created a perfect rainbow.