One beautiful spring morning, on a stalk of fresh green grass, a tiny dewdrop was born. She was as transparent as the purest crystal and sparkled in the first rays of the rising sun like a small diamond.
"Where am I?" wondered the droplet as she first opened her watery eyes. She felt pleasantly cool and fresh, but she didn't know who she was or how she had gotten onto that thin green stalk.
Near her on a leaf sat a small ladybug with seven spots.
"Good morning, little droplet!" she greeted cheerfully. "Welcome to the world!"
"Good morning," the droplet replied shyly. "Could you please tell me who I actually am?"
The ladybug laughed. "You are a dewdrop. During the night it was cool and dark, and the moist air transformed into droplets that settled on the plants. That's why we can now see you sparkling so beautifully in the morning rays."
The droplet pondered. "And what will happen to me when the sun rises higher in the sky?"
The ladybug shrugged her tiny shoulders. "I won't tell you that. I always fly away before it gets too hot. But perhaps someone else will explain it to you."
At that moment a gentle breeze blew and the grass stalks began to sway. The droplet held on tight so she wouldn't fall.
"Whooooo!" came a voice suddenly from below. "What fun this is!"
The droplet looked down carefully. Below her stalk another drop was bouncing, having just fallen from a neighboring stalk and rolling down merrily.
"Where are you going?" called the curious droplet to her.
"Into the soil!" replied the other drop. "I'll water the plant roots and travel underground. It's an amazing adventure! Don't you want to come with me?"
The droplet thought about it. It would surely be fun, but something told her that her path should lead in a different direction. She had always longed to see the world from above, not hidden underground.
"Thank you for the invitation, but I think I'll wait," she replied politely.
As the sun climbed higher and higher in the sky, the droplet felt that something was happening to her. She began to feel somehow lighter, as if her body was losing its solid form.
"This is strange," she thought to herself. "I feel as if I'm dissolving."
Nearby a small bee landed, collecting morning dew and pollen from the flowers.
"Good morning, little droplet," the bee greeted her. "You look confused. Can I help you somehow?"
"Something is happening to me," the droplet replied. "I feel lighter and lighter. Is this normal?"
The bee nodded. "Yes, that's completely natural. The sun is warming you and you're changing into invisible water vapor. You'll rise up to the sky."
The droplet glowed with joy. "Really? And what will happen to me then?"
"You'll join with other droplets and together you'll form a big cloud," the bee explained. "And when the cloud is heavy enough, all the drops will fall back to earth as rain."
"That sounds like an amazing adventure!" exclaimed the droplet enthusiastically. "I want to see the world from above and then return. But how do I get to the sky?"
"You just have to wait for the sun," the bee smiled. "The heat will transform you into water vapor and you'll rise up."
The droplet watched as the sun climbed higher and higher in the sky. Its rays warmed her pleasantly and she began to feel as if she was dissolving into the air.
"Goodbye, dear bee! Thank you for the advice!" called the droplet just before she completely transformed into invisible water vapor.
And so began the droplet's journey to the clouds. As water vapor she was so light that air currents lifted her high above the meadow. She rose higher and higher until she found herself at a height she had never dreamed of.
"Oh my! How beautiful the world is from above!" she rejoiced, though she could neither be seen nor heard. She saw green meadows, blue rivers, and colorful house roofs. Everything looked so tiny and charming!
As she rose higher, the air around her grew cooler. Suddenly she noticed that around her were other invisible droplets of water vapor. They were all flying in the same direction, up toward the sky.
"Hello! Is anyone there?" called the droplet.
"Yes, we're all here!" replied a multitude of quiet voices. "We too were once dewdrops, water in a stream, or in a puddle. Now we'll create a cloud together!"
The droplet was thrilled. Finally she had found friends who would understand her, because they were like her.
"And how do we become a cloud?" she asked curiously.
"Just wait until the air is cold enough," replied one of the droplets. "Then we'll change from water vapor back into tiny water droplets or ice crystals. We'll be so small that we'll be able to stay in the air, and together we'll form a cloud."
And that's exactly what happened. As they rose higher and higher, the air around them grew colder. The droplet felt herself changing again from invisible water vapor into a tiny, minuscule water droplet. And around her the same thing was happening to thousands of other droplets.
Together they formed a beautiful white cloud that floated high in the sky.
"Hurray!" rejoiced the droplet. "I've become part of a cloud! This is amazing!"
In the cloud she found many new friends – droplets that had previously been dew on flowers, water in rivers, lakes, or seas. Each droplet had its own story and adventures.
"I was a wave in the ocean," one of the droplets recounted. "I swayed on the sea surface and saw big ships."
"And I was part of a waterfall," added another. "I fell from a high cliff and created a rainbow in the sunbeams."
"I helped water a garden," boasted a third droplet.
The droplet listened to all these stories with enthusiasm. "How wonderful and diverse the world of water is!" she thought to herself. "I never would have imagined that one small drop could experience so many adventures."
The cloud of which she was part slowly moved across the sky. The wind carried it over forests, meadows, villages, and cities. The droplet observed life below from above and was grateful for this unique opportunity to see the world.
As the days passed, the cloud with the droplet traveled farther and farther. Gradually other clouds joined it and together they formed a large cloud formation. From a white cloud it became a dark gray cloud full of heavy raindrops.
"What's happening?" asked the droplet when she felt herself changing from a small and light droplet into a heavier and larger one.
"Get ready," replied an elderly grandfather cloud who had been in the sky for many years. "Soon we'll return to earth as rain. It's part of our cycle."
"As rain?" the droplet was a bit frightened. "Will I be falling again?"
"Yes," nodded grandfather cloud. "But that's natural. We water droplets are always in motion. Sometimes we're up in the sky, other times down on earth. We call it the water cycle in nature."
"And what will happen when I fall to earth?" the droplet wanted to know.
"That depends on where you land," grandfather cloud explained. "You might get into a stream or river and travel to the sea. You might soak into the soil and water plant roots. Or you might evaporate again and return to us in the clouds."
"That sounds like an endless adventure!" the droplet was pleased. "So there's never an end to my journey?"
"Exactly," nodded grandfather cloud. "Water on Earth has been traveling in an endless cycle for billions of years. We've been here forever and will be here forever, just in different forms."
The droplet was fascinated by this discovery. Now she understood that her morning birth on the grass stalk wasn't her real beginning. She was part of something much greater – the eternal water cycle on Earth.
Meanwhile, the cloud in which the droplet found herself darkened and grew heavy.
"It's time!" called out Grandfather Cloud. "Get ready for the journey down!"
Little Droplet looked below herself. She saw green forests, blue rivers, colorful house roofs, and wide fields. Where would she land?
"Don't be afraid," the other droplets encouraged her. "It's just another part of your great adventure."
And then it began. First one droplet, then another, a third... All of them began to release from the cloud and fall toward the earth. Little Droplet felt herself break away from her friends and begin to fall.
"Wheeeee!" she cried, half from fear, half from excitement.
She fell faster and faster, the air around her whistling. Below, she could see the earth approaching. It seemed she would land on a green meadow full of flowers.
"Maybe it's the same meadow where I was born this morning as a dewdrop," she thought hopefully.
And indeed, when she came closer, she recognized the same meadow where she had begun her journey. She saw familiar grass blades, colorful flowers, and even the same ladybug that had greeted her in the morning.
With a gentle tap, she landed on a wide dandelion leaf. The ladybug, who had been hiding under the leaf from the rain, peeked out her little head in surprise.
"Hello! It's me, the dewdrop from this morning!" she called out happily. "I'm back!"
"Welcome back!" the ladybug rejoiced. "Where have you been all day?"
"Oh, you wouldn't believe it!" Little Droplet told her story excitedly. "I was on an enormous adventure! The sun transformed me into water vapor, I rose high into the sky, I became part of a cloud, and now I've returned as a raindrop!"
"That sounds really exciting," the ladybug acknowledged. "So now you know how the water cycle works in nature?"
"Yes!" Little Droplet nodded. "And I discovered that my adventure never ends. Maybe I'll evaporate soon and return to the clouds again, or flow into a stream, or seep into the soil and nourish plants. Every day I can be somewhere else and experience new things!"
"That's true," the ladybug nodded. "Water is all around us and constantly travels. Without it, life on Earth wouldn't be possible."
"And my adventure continues right now!" Little Droplet exclaimed as she felt herself sliding down the leaf. "Goodbye, ladybug! Maybe we'll meet again!"
And with those words, she rolled off the leaf and continued on her endless journey. One day, however, she will surely return to the sky again and observe the world from above.
Because that's how the eternal water cycle works – the never-ending story of every droplet on our blue planet.