Puddle Jumping
It was an unusually warm for April, and it had been raining for three days. The little girl was tired of playing Monopoly, even wishing for her spring break to be over. Anything was better than this constant rain.
It was after this thought that the little girl made the decision to enter the rainy outdoors to create some fun. She put on her purple rain coat with the hood and stepped outside. Mama yelled from the kitchen, “Don’t jump in the puddles or you’ll ruin your new tennis shoes!”
Listening to Mama sometimes made no sense to her. Outside the daffodils were beginning to come up from the soggy ground, and appeared that they were welcoming the rain. The little girl walked up to the pretty plant and touched the yellow flower with her right hand. It was soft to the touch and reminded her of her cat Ruby.
She stood up, and directly in front of her was an enormous puddle, bigger than she had ever seen. She concluded that there was no other way around it but to jump through it. Like a long jumper at a track meet, she took a deep breath, then jumped as high and as far as she could. Water covered her new red tennis shoes, and her pants were dripping.
The water was so warm it reminded her of her bath that morning. She giggled and squealed with delight, smiling so wide that the dimple on her left cheek soon appeared. She jumped over and over, realizing that she couldn’t remember the last time she had this much fun.
The little girl then stood still, soaking up the warmth and wetness. She knew Mama would probably give her a lickin’ if she discovered her this way, but she didn’t care.
She told herself that some things are worth it, finding that she had as much fun in the rain than when the sun shone, if not more. Jumping the puddle had brought her great joy indeed.
The little girl looked up to the sky, the dark clouds menacing above her, and she was thankful.