Hello. My name is Mr. Dribble. I am a water droplet. I am bigger than bacteria, but smaller than a ladybug. I have had many tribulations in my life, but also many triumphs. It's hard being a water droplet. There's not much to do. You just slowly, slowly slide down wherever you are.
I'm currently on a plant, and not much has changed. I think I'm the only water droplet on this plant now. The other young fellow I was chatting with fell off about an hour ago. That just proves how long it takes to actually move when you're a water droplet.
I've heard a rumor, through the water-vine, that you slide MUCH faster when you're on a car window. Alas, I've never had that opportunity. I wonder if I EVER will. At this rate, it appears I will not.
I went through the process of transpiration about….an hour ago, I'm guessing. I woke up in fear, but really, I was just passing through the guard cells, which were guarding the stomata. Where I go now is anybody's guess.
I was born a few months ago to a cloud named "Boris." Boris the Cloud nurtured me and cared for me in the months leading up to my release from him. I have no mother, apparently. I'm not sure why, but Boris never liked to talk about it. He also didn't like me calling him "daddy." Again, I have no idea why not.
My first word ever was actually "rutabaga." Boris thought I had something wrong with my head on that account, but I guess my dream has always been to drip off of a rutabaga. Again, not sure if I'll ever get the chance to do that…
WAIT! WHAT IS THIS!? I'VE NEVER FELT THIS FEELING BEFORE!
HELP! SOMEDROPLET! ANYDROPLET! HELP ME!
I splat onto the soil below me with a splash. I think I may have just suffered my first concussion. It seems I have just condensed. Wow, nodroplet ever told me it was going to be THAT painful!
Either way, I guess I've just entered a new chapter in my life….I had been on that plant since the day I was born….now, it's time to go on a whole new ADVENTURE! This could be my chance to see more of that ever-growing world around me! I don't even NEED to meet a rutabaga, I just want SOMETHING NEW to happen to me!
As quick as I say this, however, I start to get VERY hot….
OUCH! OUCH! WHAT NOW?! I'M A WATER DROPLET! HOW AM I HOT, OF ALL THINGS?!
As a massive amount of heat energy adorns my body, I pass out. When I wake up, I seem to be on familiar grounds…
HEY! I'm back in the clouds again! This is AWESOME! I wonder where Boris is….hey! Hey! Is this Boris the cloud I'm currently accompanying?
"No, little one….my name is Rafael."
Awww man! Do you know where I can find Boris? He's my dad!
"Do you have any idea how many clouds are in the sky, little one?"
I guess he has a point…. A bunch….I frown. I can't tell if Rafael is frowning back, back I'm sure he is. This is a pretty sad story!
"That's right, little one…..now, off you go!"
HUH?
I once again start condenses, and fall through Rafael the cloud. I can see him smirk at me, and I believe I caught a wave of his own.
Of course, I can't really tell, I'm too busy screaming my little watery head off.
After a few seconds, I land into the ocean. Pretty anti-climatic, if you ask me. I've never been in the ocean, though, so this is pretty exciting. In the distance I can see a Clownfish being chased by a piranha. Poor clownfish….I feel just like him….excited for new beginnings, but also scared of the world around me.
1 day later…..
Well, I'm still in the ocean. I feel pretty safe in here. I've made a few new friends in the form of bubbles. Their names are Wanda and Milhouse.
Wanda is a girl bubble, and Milhouse is a boy bubble.
I feel bad for my new friends, because they've never had to opportunity to explore new places like I have. They've been stuck in this ocean for so long. Since they were born, actually.
I also feel bad, because of how they were created….due to the flatulence of a deep-sea diver.
That's right. A man came underneath this great, watery paradise, looking for a pearl. He farted, and thus created not only Wanda and Milhouse, but also, their parents.
After a few days, Wanda and Milhouse's parents floated away, thanks to a high-speed chase between a Shark and a school of plankton. The swift movement of the shark's tail swished Wanda and Milhouse's parents away from them. Of course, being just bubbles, and having no sense of movement, Wanda and Milhouse couldn't catch up to them, no matter how hard they try.
This place may be beautiful, but I still can't help but feel it's one of the most dangerous places in the world. I know I haven't been to many places in this world, but I feel comfortable with that assumption.
A week later….
It all happened too quickly.
The day had just begun, and I was talking to Wanda and Milhouse, as I do to start out every morning, when all of a sudden, the entire ocean, at least from my perspective, starts to feel hot.
It must've been hot for my best friends, too, because….they popped.
Milhouse and Wanda….popped.
I can't help but cry, as my emotions take the better of me…..I pass out.
I wake up a few hours later, and once again find myself….on a cloud. Where life began.
I don't feel so enthusiastic about it, though. Having seen my two best friends perish in front of me has broken my heart. I don't think I feel like making friends with this new cloud of mine. I just rather have popped along with my friends. Maybe then, we could've went to the that big aquarium in the sky that Boris told me about. Nothing bad ever happened there, he said. Every little water droplet would mingle with anything else liquid related and have a big party every day.
The last thing I want right now is a party.
"Hey, sugarcube...what's on yer mind?" Says a voice. It sounds very southern, just like Boris did. Boris WAS a cloud from the state of Texas, though, so I guess that made sense. I couldn't tell if THIS cloud was from Texas or not, though. It sounded like a female Boris, was all I knew.
I look to my right, however, and find myself clung to a dust particle of all things! On a CLOUD, no less...how in the world could this dust particle have gotten ALL the way up here?
Ummmm….hi. I say to the dust particle. Seems it was the DUST PARTICLE was what was talking to me, not the cloud we inhabited.
"Howdy there, pardner!" The enthusiastic particle replies. "Ah'm Applejack, the friendliest dust particle in the sky! What's yer name?"
Applejack? What an odd name for a dust particle….
My name's Mr. Dribble, I answer, not wanting to be rude.
"Why do ya look so sad, ah asked?"
I don't think this dust particle could even BEGIN to understand why I feel the way I feel….but I guess I'll humor her.
I just came from the ocean. It suddenly got hot, and my friends, whom were bubbles, bursted from the heart. I passed out from the racking of emotions, as well as heat exhaustion, and woke up...well, on you.
Gee, Dribbles, why not just tell her your life story?
"Aww shucks, Dribbles...cain't say ah've been in yer position before….we dust particles don't get the just to have parents. And if we do, we sure don't remember them, and we sure aren't around them for very long."
You mean….you've never had a friend? I ask.
"Cain't say ah have," Applejack answers, and I gasp. How could she NOT have ever had a friend? It's SO rewarding! Well, until you lose them…..
Maybe it's not worth it to have friends, then…..the heartache is just TOO much….
"Well, ah spawned from a crate on an airplane that was carryin' a LARGE load. When they dropped the stuff off, ah floated onto this here cloud. He's never even spoken ta me….he's mute, from what ah can tell. Nothing else ever comes by here...not even a raindrop. Ah don't think this cloud has EVER rained since ah've been on here!"
Wow, I reply. That's awful, Applejack….everybody deserves a friend!
"Well, hey, would you like ta be mine?" Applejack suggests. I'm hesitant to accept her offer at first, because all of my friends just leave me. It's never been their fault, but I don't think I could handle the loss of another friend….
I won't have to answer, because before I can….I once again condense. I don't scream this time, because quite frankly, I'm glad. Applejack wasn't rude or anything, I just don't feel like having any more friends...all they do is leave me. I don't need that hassle any more.
After a few more seconds, I fall into something MUCH smaller than an ocean...it appears to be a lake. Which is, good. Lakes are more peaceful. Less things are likely to happen, and, best of all….there's a very HEFTY chance I wont make any friends while here.
One week later….
It's winter now. I can tell, because the water in this lake has just frozen solid. Hey, its better than more heat energy, in my opinion. I'm a tough little water droplet! I can take it!
3 weeks later….
Much to my chagrin, the ice has now melted, and in the process, I've been transported into a river now. Rivers are supposedly bigger than lakes. This gives me a higher chance to meet more liquids...like water droplets, or even worse...bubbles. Being a friend with my own time is bad enough, but NO bubble could EVER replace Wanda...OR Milhouse.
1 week later….
I'm still in this river, and I have successfully been avoiding any liquid substance that comes away. A bubble floats my way to try to strike up a conversation and I basically ignore them. I wish I had the power to turn away, but the only way I'd be able to turn is if a boat ran through this river. And it's still winter, so that's not happening.
5 months later….
It's official….I've now been in this river longer than anywhere else in my life. Longer than Boris, longer than that plant, longer than that ocean, longer than on Applejack, and longer than in that lake. It's quite the milestone, actually…..raindrops usually come and go in places like this, because evaporation usually gets ahold of them.
Speak of the devil, it's officially summer now, and with that, comes a new cycle of evaporation…..
And this cycle doesn't waste ANYTIME. I've condensed enough, so up I go after a fit of heat energy. I've been through it enough to the point where it just doesn't burn anymore.
I don't even pass out this time. Although, I feel bored at this point. I mean….how LONG am I going to have to go through this? Is THIS the TOTAL life of a water droplet? If so, then this TOTALLY BORING. Who in their RIGHT MIND would want to keep DOING this?! Cloud, water, cloud, water, cloud, possibly plant, water, cloud! I GET IT! How long do water droplets even LIVE?! Now that I think about it, Boris didn't teach me as much as I would've LIKED him to….
A few hours later….
Sigh….here we go again….ANOTHER cloud….wonder if this guy's friendly….I'm assuming there aren't many GIRL clouds, but gender doesn't matter….I'm still bored of this life! I want to SEE new things! Why can't I just fall on some little girl's umbrella and follow her home? THAT'S the kind of life I want! This whole preconceived notion of "oh, you young man are a WATER DROPLET! So sad for you…..you are hereby sentenced to go through the SAME cycle, along with the SAME scenarios, until the world just flat out explodes. See ya!"
Chalchiuhtlicue, the goddess of water SURE does have a very ODD sense of humor….
"Oh my THUNDER BOLTS! S-son….i-...is that YOU?"
HUH….?
Tha…..THAT VOICE….
CAN IT BE?
B-Boris….? I mutter, hoping and PRAYING for a miracle.
"Dribbles! Oh, it IS you!"
BORIS! I whoop in astonishment.
"It's been nearly a YEAR since you've left me….oh, I've missed you SO much!" I can sense the tears in my father, especially since about a thousand droplets fall through dad's cumulus. Luckily, I am able to hang on. There was NO WAY I was EVER going to let go…..
I'm not sure what to say, so I let my dad just soak everything in.
"Oh, for 8 long months, the only water droplets I've had to deal with were pompous and prissy! I KNEW I would never father a water droplet the likes of you, Dribbles…."
Th-thank you, Boris, I praise. If I WAS able to cry, I would've by now. Still, the emotions were there, and dad knew it.
"Do you know how RARE this is, son? Hardly EVER does a father or mother's son or daughter come BACK to them!"
I smile solemnly. I guess we're two of the lucky ones, Boris…
"Oh, son….PLEASE stop calling me that," he insists. I am shocked. "Call me DAD, like you were BORN to…."
Never in my life did my father EVER allow me to call him "dad." He would always scold me.
B-...but why? I ask.
"Son, these last 8 months have been hard on me. I MISS your mother, but even more so….I missed YOU. You were my pride and joy. I was hard on you sometimes, but it was only to prepare you for the evaporation cycle...you have to be a PRETTY tough water droplet to be able to handle that."
I'll be honest, I reply. I almost gave up sometimes, dad….
"Almost is the key-word, though, son…..you DIDN'T give up, and for that, I am SO PROUD of you! One of the things I regret was for being so IGNORANT in not letting you call me "dad", or even "father"...I only did that because I didn't want to get too attached to you….I-...I just couldn't HELP it in the end, though….once you were gone, I realized that I HAD become attached to you. And now, I want to make it up to you….for all the mistakes I've made…."
A-alright, I gulp. I love you, d-dad…..
He chuckles in response. "I love you, too….SON."
What if I have to leave again? I ask.
"I hope that doesn't happen, son….but, if it does, I want you to know that I LOVE you, and that even through this vicious cycle….we'll always be together…."
At that moment, I realized that all the hogwash I said about "not having friends" was a blatant lie on my part, and I didn't even KNOW it….
Because I DO have a friend….the BEST FRIEND I could EVER ask for…
My dad.
1 year later….
It's the one year anniversary of me returning to my father.
One entire, calendar year.
I've learned a lot since going through that last evaporation cycle.
I've learned to fight for what you love. Every time the goddess of water forced my dad to make it rain over Texas, I ALWAYS held on, because I didn't want to EVER be away from my dad's side again It was a MIRACLE that I had returned to him, and I would FIGHT to the end to be by him as long as I could.
He hadn't scolded me since I had came back to him. Sometimes, I believe he had gone soft on me, but I know it's just because he loves me so much. He may baby me sometimes, but it's a small price to pay to be with my dad again.
We've laughed, we've, well, HE'S cried, I've FELT like crying, we've had fun, and we've bonded, most of all, we REALLY have. I couldn't ASK for a better friend in my life, and I don't think I'll ever find one.
I've heard that some droplets are EMBARRASSED or even ASHAMED of their mother or father. I can't believe it when I hear stories like that. Sure, my dad's a bit of a goofball sometimes, but we are high above the Lone-Star STATE! The people down there are PRETTY enthusiastic, and it's rubbed off of paps. It's starting to run off on me, too.
I love my dad for WHO he is….he doesn't try to mask things just to keep me safe. Is something is wrong, he'll tell me. I might react negatively to it sometimes, but it all comes with that parent/child relationship. I never had much with my dad before. The first go-around, it was pretty much him teaching me everything I needed to survive the water cycle. While I appreciate all his advice, that was ALL he gave me. We never had fun, we never had ACTUAL conversations…we never really ENJOYED life. It was just lesson after lesson after LESSON.
A year ago, dad promised it would be different, and he has YET to lie about that. Sure, there's been some rocky patches, still, but he's a changed cloud now, for the ABSOLUTE better, and I love him to death for it.
Most of all, I've learned to cherish EVERY moment I spend with my dad…
Because it's ONE drop away, from being over….
THE END.