Raindrop's Arc

Chapter 7 of 15

The warm current set Raindrop down on the wet wooden stage. The planks shone with rain, water dripping off every edge. He set the jar down at center stage and felt it tremble under his hands. The lid rattled. The drops inside spun faster, glowing brighter, pulsing like a tiny heart. Then the pull began. Every loose drop in the sky bent toward the jar. They came in fast streaks, slamming against the wood, pooling along the seams. The stage groaned. Water sheeted off the sides in heavy ropes. If he did nothing, the platform would drown before he led a single step. Raindrop climbed onto the jar's lid and pulled the surge upward instead of letting it crash. A low rain cloud formed above him, dense and shimmering, catching every incoming drop in its belly. He stood on the lid and drummed a slow beat. The cloud held the flood. Drops fell from it in neat, even lines around the stage edge, not onto it. The platform steadied. The jar's pulse slowed to match his drum. Raindrop felt it then — the ripple — a small, sure spread through the falling lines. Three drops crossed paths mid-fall in a clean arc. The dance had a stage again, and a first step.