How the Sunshine Made Friends with the Rain

Annette loved all four seasons of the year. She liked the spring because it turned everything so freshly green. She loved the summer because she always went camping in the Lake District with her parents. She loved the autumn because she enjoyed running through fallen leaves and jumping in puddles. And she loved the winter because it was so much fun building snowmen. But no matter which season it was, she was only happy when the sun was shining. When it was raining or drizzly Annette would never go out, no matter how hard her mother tried to persuade her. She always ran home as fast as she could from school and refused to go anywhere else.

“The rain is so yuckily wet!” she would always complain.

This year, spring gave way to summer and before she knew it, it was time for the summer holidays. Annette packed everything she would need into her rucksack – her swimming costume, suncream, sunglasses… But as though to spite her, the weather forecast said it was going to rain all week.

“We might as well have stayed at home,” she grumbled in the car as she heard the first heavy drops of rain falling on the roof.

“You’re as gloomy as the sky is today,” teased her father. “Don’t you know that without the rain we wouldn’t be able to have most of the fun that we always look forward to so much?”

Annette just shook her head in disagreement. Her father continued: “It’s true! In the spring, for example. Everything blossoms and sprouts green shoots… but only thanks to the rain. If it didn’t rain, the grass and trees would stay dry and lifeless. And in the summer, if it didn’t rain, all the riverbeds and…