A raindrop plopped off a leaf and landed on Cirra's nose.
Then the clouds opened wide over the park.
Cirra laughed, wiped the cool drop away, and pointed up. Then she ran after the rain as it tapped the slide and drummed on the grass.
She splashed from puddle to puddle.
Tiny streams raced along the curb and slipped into the garden beds.
Cirra bent close to the wet dirt and listened. Drip, drip, drip.
"Where do you go next?" she whispered.
A patch of sun slipped through. Cirra followed the shining puddles down the path.
By the biggest puddle, Cirra saw a cloud wobbling in the water like a picture in jelly.
She reached in with one finger.
Whoosh! A gust wrinkled the water, and the cloud broke into a hundred dancing pieces.
Cirra gasped, then grinned. She looked up as the sun grew warmer on the path.
She waited on the bench while the puddles grew smaller and the air smelled fresh and leafy.
Then Cirra pointed high above the gardens. A soft cloud puff drifted overhead.
"You went up again!" she said.
Just then, another tiny drop tapped her hand, as if the sky answered back.
Cirra walked home through the park, stepping around the little puddles and peeking up at the blue between the clouds.
She smiled at the drops on the flowers and the clouds overhead. Birds chirped in the clean air. The sky and the ground felt like one big trip she could follow again tomorrow.
