Thanking the Clouds. All of the forest’s toadstools are thankful to the rain clouds for their delicious water. Except one day, one toadstool decides not to say thank you. But what happens when you take good things for granted?
Make your child the main character. Replace this (_____) with your child’s name.
Thanking the Clouds
Deep in the heart of Green Leaf Forest, a cluster of toadstools grew happily, all thanks to the rain.
Each day followed the same pattern: clouds gathered in the sky and began to sprinkle water on the forest floor.
The toadstools drank up the water from the soil and called out their thanks to the clouds above.
“Thank you so much!” shouted Tiptoe, the red toadstool.
“Yes, thank you for the lovely water!” yelled Zebedee, the spotty fungus.
“Thank you, clouds. See you tomorrow!” said Tilda, the tallest mushroom.
One day, _____, the yellow and white toadstool, said nothing. _____ drank the water like the others, but he stayed quiet.
Tilda turned to _____. “Why aren’t you thanking the clouds?”
_____ shrugged. “They come here every day. They rain every day, too. It’s just normal. It’s nothing special.”
_____ didn’t realize that above the canopy of trees, Coro the Cloud was listening to what he had just said.
“Humph,” said Coro to himself. “If my rain is nothing special, then _____ won’t care whether he gets any or not, I suppose.”
The next day, the clouds rolled across the sky and hovered above the treetops. All of them, that was, except for one.
The raindrops began to fall, and the toadstools drank happily from the soil. They called out their thanks to the clouds.
_____ looked around. Why wasn’t he getting any rain?
He peered up through the treetops and noticed that an area of cloud was missing.
“That’s annoying,” he muttered to himself. “I guess, I’ll just have to drink extra tomorrow.”
The following morning, the toadstools had all grown a little taller. All except for _____.
“I’m so thirsty!” _____ told Zebedee. “What’s taking the clouds so long? I wish they would hurry!”
But when the clouds arrived, there was an empty patch of sky above _____.
The rain fell all around him, but his spot of soil stayed dry.
“This is so unfair!” the yellow and white toadstool cried. “Why aren’t the clouds giving me any rain?”
And so it continued like this all week. The rain fell, and _____ friends grew taller. They thanked the clouds.
Finally, _____ stopped complaining and said to Tiptoe, “It’s my fault that the rain cloud has stopped visiting, isn’t it?”
“I think so,” said Tiptoe. “If we don’t thank others, then we don’t show that we appreciate them. And then they think we don’t care.”
“Oh dear,” said ______. “I hurt that cloud’s feelings. I didn’t bother to show my appreciation. I was thoughtless.”
When the clouds returned the next day, _____ took a deep breath. “Excuse me, please. May I tell you something important?”
“I am so sorry for my selfish behavior. I took you for granted. Not just Coro, but all of you.”
“I really do appreciate you. Thank you so much for the rain.”
_____ bowed his head, and the clouds whispered among themselves.
The next thing he knew, _____ felt the refreshing splash of rain as cold drops landed on his head and the soil around him.
He looked up, smiling widely. Coro was there!
“Thank you, Coro! Thank you for the rain!” said _____.
Coro smiled. “You’re welcome, little toadstool.”
That day, like the other mushrooms, _____ grew a little bit taller. He knew that he would always say thank you from now on.
After all, we all have good things in our lives, and we must never take them for granted!
