Theme: Perseverance, commitment

The determination of the droplet

It is said that in a place far from here, on the edge of a mountain, a rose bush grew.

	In that region it barely rained, and with great difficulty, the rose bush grew. A drop of water, however, every morning fell on
the rose bush. The droplet was small, but she sparkled in the daylight.

Once, the wind passed by that place and, seeing that beautiful drop of water trying so hard to water the rose bush, said:

- What are you doing, lost among the leaves? That's a pretty big task for such a small droplet. Leave it! Come with me, we will travel around the world. You will discover beautiful gardens and distant lands, full of colors.

The drop just replied:

- Thanks for the invite. I would like to go, but I can't. I am committed to watering the rose bush every morning. I'm small, but I do the best I can.

The wind, trying to convince her, continued:

- Do you think that so much effort will make any difference?

- I think so! - replied the droplet - I clean the leaves and wet the ground. One day, beautiful roses will appear...

The morning passed, the droplet went to the ground and stayed there until the sun made it rise. When the dawn turned it into dew, she fell again on the rose bush.

The wind returned and, when he saw the little drop again, he laughed a lot, because despite so much effort the rose bush was almost completely withered and there were no rosebuds left. The droplet was sad, but it continued to refresh the leaves of the rose bush.

- Come with me! - invited the wind.

- I can't! - replied the droplet, faithful to her commitment to help the rose bush.

Time passed and the wind also passed after a long time without appearing in those parts. Suddenly, he appeared, smoothing the green leaves, and removing the yellow ones from the tree branches. He was like this, in his dance, when he carried with him a soft perfume that spread throughout the field.

The wind began to look for where the aroma was coming from and, as he got closer to the mountain, he felt the delicate perfume even stronger. Admired, he then saw the rose bush with lush leaves and a beautiful red rose opening her petals in the bright sunlight.

The wind approached and found the droplet among the soft petals of the rose. Very carefully, so as not to hurt the flower, he blew slowly and said:

- Congratulations, little girl! The rose bush is beautiful! I didn't believe you could do it, but now I see that your persevering work won out.

The drop was grateful. She was very happy and confident that she had made the right choice. After all, no outing or fun can bring more happiness than the satisfaction of a well done duty.

(Adapted from the text “A gota d’água”, from the book Conte Mais, vol. 4, FERGS.)

Translation:
Larissa Martine - larissa_am@hotmail.com

marcelapradacontato@gmail.com