Rain on the Rim

The fifth day was too hot and too quiet. In the afternoon the sky above the canyon turned dark grey, and the air smelled of wet dust. Every animal in the canyon started moving up, away from the sand. Polly is not a fool, so she went with them.

Then the rain came. It fell on the flat rock above the canyon, but the rock could not drink it. So the water came over the edge in many places at the same time. For about an hour, the walls had waterfalls that were not there in the morning.

Below, the dry wash filled with water the colour of milky tea. This is why nobody builds a house on the sand, said the raven. He was back, and he liked this weather. This wash is a road for eleven months and a river for one afternoon.

By the evening, the water was already sinking into the sand. The canyon smelled green. In small fields near the walls, the corn stood up straighter. In an old orchard, the peach and apricot leaves were wet and clean. One hour of rain had watered the whole canyon.