Sunny was a brand new star. He lived with all the other stars in the night sky. Every morning, the stars would leave their homes in the sky to care for the planets that made up the universe. Each star had its own planet to care for. Sunny was too new to have a planet. He could only watch as the older stars went off to work each morning.
Before Sunny could have a planet, he had to learn the proper way to care for one. So, while the older stars were at work, Sunny stayed behind and went to school. There were many things for Sunny to learn: how long to shine and how hard, the right way to work with clouds, and when to move and when to stay still. Sunny should have been paying attention to these lessons, but he never did. He was too busy dreaming about having a planet of his own.
Finally, Sunny finished his lessons and was given a planet. It was a dream-come-true. “My planet is going to be the best ever,” Sunny told anyone who would listen.
Sunny’s first day was a big success. As he shined his warm light on his planet, it came alive. Flowers, trees, and grass all started to grow. Bright colors spread across the planet. This isn’t hard at all, Sunny thought.
When he returned home, Sunny was happy. “My planet will be full of life and color in no time,” he boasted to his friend Sol. “I’m sure that it will,” Sol said. “Just remember it can’t be sunny every day.”
As he lay in his bed that night, Sunny thought about what Sol had said. Why can’t it be sunny every day? Sunny wondered. I think it can, he decided before falling asleep.
By the end of his first week, Sunny’s planet was in great shape. Flowers bloomed, trees grew leaves, and grass covered the planet. Pretty colors were everywhere. I’ve made my planet beautiful in record time, Sunny thought to himself.
The next week, Sunny arrived at his planet and began to shine again. But this time the flowers, trees, and grass did not grow, and no new colors appeared. That’s strange, Sunny thought. I shined as hard as I could today, but nothing happened. I guess I’ll have to shine even harder tomorrow.
The next day, Sunny was ready to shine harder than ever before. However, just as he was about to begin, Sunny heard a low rumbling sound. A second later there was a loud crackle and a flash of light. “What’s that?” Sunny exclaimed. “That’s thunder and lightening,” a deep voice said. Sunny didn’t see anyone. “Who’s there?” he asked.
“I’m Nimbus the Cloud,” said the deep voice. “I’m here to bring some rain to our planet.” “What does a planet need rain for?” Sunny challenged. “A planet needs rain to cool it off,” Nimbus replied. “It can’t be sunny every day you know.”
“It can too be sunny everyday!” Sunny shouted while shining as hard as he could. “Hey!” Nimbus cried. “You’re going to dry me out!” But Sunny didn’t listen. He only shined harder. “Okay, okay,” Nimbus said. “You win. Shine all you want, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.” With that, Nimbus disappeared.
When Sunny returned to his planet the following morning, it was a mess. The flowers were dried and shrunken, the trees had lost their leaves, and the grass was burnt to a crisp. The pretty colors were gone. Seeing his planet in such bad shape made Sunny sad. He was so sad that he began to cry. He cried and cried like never before. Sunny cried so much that his tears ran down his face and fell onto his planet.
As Sunny’s tears touched his planet, something special happened. Spots of color appeared right where each of the tears had fallen. But Sunny didn’t notice. He just kept crying and crying.
Over his sobs, Sunny heard a familiar deep voice. “Now do you see what a little rain can do?” Nimbus asked. “What do you mean?” Sunny replied. “Look down,” Nimbus said.
Sunny wiped the tears from his eyes and looked down at his planet. Pools of color were spreading across its surface. The flowers, trees, and grass were all growing once again. Sunny could not believe what he saw. His planet was alive again!
“Your tears were just what the planet needed,” Nimbus said. Looking down at his planet, Sunny knew that Nimbus was right. “Well, I guess rain’s not so bad,” he admitted. “Oh really?” Nimbus asked. “Sure,” Sunny replied. “After all, it can’t be sunny every day.”