Leaving The First Land (part 3)

Now you might think it strange to have all the Four Seasons together at once and at times I suppose it was. There was the odd time that it snowed in July, but mostly the weather each Season preferred just balenced out even. So what often occurred was a nice average day with a nice average sky; not hot, not cold, just right. Then one day it started to rain, and it rained and it rained and it just wouldn't stop. The people all walked to the top of the hill to tell the Four Seasons what they thought of that.

"But it's not our fault," Winter tried to explain.

"The rain's not from us," said Spring.

"I enjoy a good sprinkle as much as the next guy, but this much is too much for me," agreed Fall.

"The weather's so wet I can hardly sleep," Summer complained. "And then when I do I just dream of umbrellas."

As it turned out there was nothing to do but just stand around and watch it continue. And continue it did all throughout the whole week, and then for another, and then for another, and then for another whole week after that. It rained and it poured, and soon there was so much water around that the First Land began to change. The streams became rivers, the rivers were lakes, the lakes turned to oceans and the ocean itself just came rolling on in.

Slowly but surely the water rose, higher and higher, flooding the land and submerging the trees. Everyone knew that they probably should leave, but the trees couldn't move, they were rooted in place. So whenever a tree was about to go under the water and drown, the person who lived in it cut it down and made it into a boat. What else could they do? It was the only way they could save themselves and their trees were saved at the same time, too.

The trees didn't actually die, you see, when they changed into boats. It was more like going to sleep for them, dreaming boat dreams as they floated along. And though it was true that they couldn't quite do what they did before, and they didn't have roots or branches anymore, still, even so, they could dance and sing in a limited way and sway with the wind and the sea.