Dewy Dear
The Wish Fairy stood on the tip-top branch of a small Christmas tree and looked about her. Below her and above her were grouped all the beasts and birds of the great Sunshine and Shadow Forest, and on the face of each was seen worry and distress.
“Well, what is it?” the Wish Fairy asked.
“It’s the dryness,” King Lion said. “We’re nearly dead of thirst. I can’t speak above a whisper. The pools are dried up, and if we don’t have rain soon the forest will be afire and there’ll be no way to put it out.”
The Wish Fairy looked worried.
“Can’t you wish for the rain to come?” Mr. Elephant asked.
The Wish Fairy shook her head.
“I have no power over the elements,” she said. “I cannot make it rain or stop raining.”
“Who can?” asked the duck. “My feet are sore from walking on dry land.”
“I can visit the Cloud Kingdom,” the Wish Fairy said doubtfully, “and ask—”
“Oh! Then hurry! Hurry!” they all cried together.
So the Wish Fairy summoned the eagle to her. He was allowed to take the last drink from the last pool of water before he started on his long journey to the Cloud Kingdom with the Wish Fairy tucked deep in the hollow of his back. Then, amidst shouts and wavings of tails and wings, up they flew; up above the tree tops; up above the forest; up—up—up—till little Miss Wish Fairy shut her eyes to keep out the glare of the sun and the sky.
All day long they travelled up—up—up—with great strong sweeps of the eagle’s wings. By late afternoon the eagle was breathless and weary.
“I see no clouds!” he quavered. “What shall I do?”
“Fly toward the sunset,” the Wish Fairy said. “You’ll find some there.”
So the eagle turned and flew straight toward the red, red ball that was almost ready to drop behind the mountains. It was out of sight before he reached it, and, sure enough, just as it disappeared, a great big white puffy cloud popped its head up over the edge of the world. It was colored in wonderful colors; mostly shades of pink and orange and purple and red, but by the time the weary eagle had reached it, the color had faded and it was just a thick gray and white heap.
The eagle tumbled down in it and rested on its edge. Miss Wish Fairy hopped off his back and made her way straight to the centre of the cloud. Here she saw dimly through the mist, seated on his throne, the King of the Clouds, and about him were his gray-clad Rain Fairies. They all stopped their dancing and prancing to the soft musical sound of raindrops, as the Wish Fairy came near, and stood in silence while she bowed before the King.
“Greetings! Oh, King!” she cried sweetly. “Greetings to the Cloud Kingdom from the Sunshine and Shadow Forest. I come to ask a favor. My land and my people are nigh dead with thirst, for not a drop of rain has come to them for weeks. We fear fire and death. Will it not be possible for one of your subjects to come back with me to the Sunshine and Shadow Forest and have power to call down the rain that is so sorely needed?”
She waited in silence for his answer, and at last it came.
“Greetings! Lady Wish Fairy! Greetings to the Sunshine and Shadow Forest from the great Cloud Kingdom. We have been aware of your distress, but the world is a big place and we are out of clouds. I shall be glad to let you take back with you Dewy Dear, who shall have power to call down the rain that is needed. She shall take a corner of this cloud with her, which will relieve you for the present, but I would suggest that you visit King Wind. He has been lazy lately and has blown so few clouds that there is thirst all over the earth. He is a kind-hearted king and will help you, I feel sure, when he knows how greatly his help is needed.”
“My thanks, oh, King,” the Wish Fairy said. “My thanks. And now we will be on our way, for we must hasten back ere it is too late.”
“Dewy Dear!” the King called. And from the midst of the fairies came a dainty little figure. She was dressed in gray, and her soft gown dropped shining drops of water with a soft musical patter as she ran. At the edge of the cloud she stooped and tore a big armful of the soft stuff loose. Then she jumped up on the eagle’s back behind the Wish Fairy and sat very still.
It was night when they saw the Sunshine and Shadow Forest below them. By the clear light of the white moon it lay black and silent and breathless. Suddenly Dewy Dear stood up.
“I shall jump off here,” she said. “You hasten home. I shall come later.”
So she jumped off, with the cloud in her arms, and hovered there in the air until she saw the eagle sink out of sight in the tree tops. Then she began shaking her armful of cloud. And she shook and shook, and a gentle rain pattered down, and she kept on shaking until the cloud had quite disappeared in a veil of rain. As the last shred of cloud left her fingers little Dewy Dear hopped on the gray curtain that was streaming to earth, and slid down until she landed at the door of the toadstool cottage where little Miss Wish Fairy was waiting for her.