Fire and Water in Stormy Weather

By Ashleigh Hicks

The Fire Creature was very, very upset.

Their best friend, the Water Creature, was supposed to meet them on the Folk Trail to tell a very important story. The Water Creature had promised to be there! All sorts of people had come from far and wide to hear the story – but the Fire Creature waited and waited, and the Water Creature didn’t show.

Finally, after waiting and waiting, the Fire Creature sighed, and started to tell the story all alone. But then –

Whoa!

The Water Creature ran right by! They didn’t even stop to say they were sorry for being late – it seemed like they’d forgotten about their promise altogether!

The Fire Creature was very upset. They stopped the Water Creature in their tracks, and confronted them: a promise is a promise!

The Water Creature said they didn’t have time – they had to get ready, because a big storm was coming.

Pt! thought the Fire Creature. When a big storm came, the Fire Creature would simply hop into that handy fire pit and kind volunteers would feed them tasty wood. They would be nice and cozy and safe. Storms were nothing to be afraid of!

The Fire Creature told the Water Creature just that, and insisted they help tell the story, just as they’d promised. The Fire Creature was so insistent that eventually the Water Creature relented and helped tell the story.

The story they told was The Little Kid Who Cried Coyote – a very familiar story, all about a little kid who cried out that there was a coyote in the field when there was no coyote to be found. The little kid cried out this false alarm so often that, eventually, no one believed them.

The Fire Creature hoped the Water Creature would learn from the story and stop causing a fuss about something as simple as a silly little storm. The Fire Creature told the Water Creature just that.

The Water Creature was very upset. The Fire Creature didn’t understand – this situation was nothing like the story at all. The little kid in the story had lied about the coyote in the field, when they were never in any danger. But the Water Creature was in danger! While the Fire Creature lived in a nice and cozy fire pit, the Water Creature lived in the wide open river! The storm coming was so big, that the Water Creature’s home was at risk of freezing solid! The Water Creature told the Fire Creature just that.

The Fire Creature was scared! Freezing solid?! They didn’t want that to happen to their best friend. The Fire Creature hadn’t been thinking about it that way – they hadn’t realized that just because a situation wasn’t scary for one person, that the situation wasn’t scary for someone else.

The Fire Creature apologized – they hadn’t intended to be so dismissive of the Water Creature’s fears. Now, they knew better.

The Water Creature accepted the Fire Creature’s apology, trusting that their friend would think more carefully next time.

And so, the Fire Creature promised to help the Water Creature prepare for the big storm – and the Fire Creature stayed with their friend, keeping them warm so they wouldn’t freeze at all.

The end.

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