#1
I hid behind the ridge and gazed down at the village below. Under the blazing sun, the village looked hotter than ever. The stream that once flowed through the village had dried up, exposing its bed. Even the grass and trees, once fresh and full of life, were drooping. Still, I ignored it all and held on to my droplets even tighter. Hmph. Let’s see how well they manage without me!
I’m a cloud. I love watching people as they go about their lives in the village below: a woman hanging laundry in the yard, a man busy working in the fields, children racing through the village, chattering noisily, a puppy yapping away, and a cat dozing on top of a wall . . . Whenever I looked down at that peaceful village, I felt at ease, and before I knew it, a smile would spread across my face.
It was a month ago that I hid behind the ridge. Cold air and warm air were locked in a tug-of-war, leaving me stuck in place. I kept gathering more and more droplets until I grew heavy, and eventually, I had no choice but to let the rain fall. The struggle between them was so evenly matched that neither side would give way easily, so I had to keep raining and raining.
Because the weather was so dreary, the villagers stayed indoors and couldn’t go about their usual routines, leaving me with nothing to watch. I grew bored. As I passed the time like that, I suddenly heard a voice tinged with frustration. It was Mrs. Lee from the house with the blue gate.
“Oh dear, I’m so tired of this rain. It just won’t stop.”
At that moment, something inside me sank with a thud. She looked very upset, her brow furrowed and the corners of her mouth turned down. It was nothing like the bright smile she usually wore.
“The laundry won’t dry and smells musty, the rice jar’s getting damp and moldy, and even my mood feels weighed down . . . I really wish this rain would stop.”
With a sigh, she looked up at the sky as she trimmed water parsley on the wooden porch. Beside her, her husband, Mr. Lee, was replacing the handle of his hoe and nodded in agreement.
“I know . . . I just hope the crops don’t start to rot.”
Just then, Bong-seok came home from school. With a gloomy face, he showed his parents the shoes he was wearing.
“My feet are soaked. It feels awful!”
“Take off your socks and wash up right away,” his mother said.
Still grumbling, he followed her inside. Hearing what the family in the house with the blue gate had said, I felt quite shaken. Before long, sharp, prickly feelings began to rise within me.
I give them shade and water their fields. How can they say such things about me? If that’s how it is, then I just won’t send any rain at all.
I drew in my wide, billowing body and gathered myself into a tight little bundle. At once, the sun peered through the clearing sky. The villagers’ faces brightened as they saw the sunlight pouring down. As for me, I slipped behind the ridge and stayed there, perfectly still.
#2
Having held back the rain for so long, my body grew heavy and gloomy, tangled with droplets and dust. I gripped them tightly, afraid even a single drop might fall, until my whole body ached. Seeing me like that, the sun called out.
“Cloud!”
I wasn’t in the mood to talk, so I didn’t respond. The sun, whether unaware or simply pretending not to notice, kept speaking.
“Is something wrong? Why are you hiding?”
“Who says I’m hiding? I just don’t feel like moving.”
As soon as the words left my mouth, I realized how sharp my tone had been. The sun gently warmed me and waited until I was ready to speak. Touched by that quiet kindness, I finally opened up and told him what had happened.
“Try hearing something like that yourself. Do you know how hurtful it feels? How disappointing?”
“I see. That must have hurt. But I hear things like that all the time too. Especially when you’re gone for days, Cloud. People say it’s too hot to bear, that the drought will ruin their crops. I hear so many words filled with complaint.”
“Oh . . . You do?”
“At first, it was hard for me too. But when I tried to see things from their point of view, I began to understand. I realized that when it gets unbearably hot, words like that can slip out without people even meaning to. When they worry about their crops, they can’t help but speak that way. Besides, on bright, clear days, people are happy and say so many kind things. So now, even if I hear something unpleasant once in a while, it doesn’t bother me anymore.”
I listened quietly to what the sun said. It was true. What Mr. and Mrs. Lee had said came only from a moment of discomfort. They had never meant to hurt me. But I kept turning their words over in my mind, letting my unpleasant feelings grow larger and larger. In the end, it was I who had closed my heart to the people below. Realizing this, I felt my heart slowly begin to soften.
To be honest, I still couldn’t forget what I saw a few days earlier. Late one night, when the only sound was the chirping of insects, Mr. Lee stood by the embankment, gazing out over his dry fields and murmuring to himself.
“This is serious . . . We need rain. If the crops fail, how will my family get by?”
He let out a deep sigh and stood there silently in the darkness for a long while. Slowly, I turned inward and looked at myself: a heavy, dark cloud stubbornly clutching my droplets. In the end, I changed my mind. It was time to let go of the droplets I had been holding onto so tightly.
#3
Pitter, patter.
Bursting out from behind the ridge, I spread myself wide and poured rain over the whole village. As I did, it felt as though all my hurt and pent-up feelings were being washed clean away.
“Wow, it’s raining!”
“How long has it been since we’ve had rain? What a blessing!”
Mr. and Mrs. Lee, who had been pulling weeds in the dry field, looked up at the falling rain with delight. Their faces were brighter than ever. The old man fishing by the lakeside and the children kicking a ball under the blazing sun all wore happy smiles as the rain fell on them. The grass and trees, which had been drying up, began to come back to life. The rain grew heavier, and my heart grew lighter. If I had known it would feel like this, I would have opened my heart much sooner.
As I watched the villagers with quiet contentment, my eyes met the sun’s. He smiled softly, then closed his eyes and said,
“I’m going to take a little nap, so wake me when you’ve let all your raindrops fall.”
“All right, get some rest. You’ve worked hard, giving off heat the whole time I stayed behind the ridge.”
Wanting the sun to rest comfortably, I gently spread myself even wider. The village, veiled in rain mist, looked beautiful. Something stirred inside me. It was warm and soft, gently swelling, with a ticklish flutter of excitement. What should I call this feeling? Ah . . . perhaps it is happiness.
3