The rain has fallen…

Rain.

Such a short sound evokes so many emotions, awakens so many seeds of life. Have you ever thought about how important a rain is to this life?

People in the city, who live in just over a hundred square meters, only wish for rain to cool down the weather, but for the villagers, who live all year round on the fields, rain is the savior of many species. During the dry months, when there is a lack of water, the grass is as fierce as withering and dying, so what species can survive? The fields are heated and cracked, and at noon, looking out at the fields, the steam rises up white, looking from afar like cracks in the air. The tamarind trees that were green with leaves and fruit last month are now bare, their branches dark black against the blue sky. The most pitiful are the cows, who have no grass and have to gnaw on dry straw by the pond. Sometimes, when they are tired of the dry straw, they slurp it for long periods as if complaining to their owners, sounding so sad.

The dry season still lasted. The heat still burned the ground. People and animals waited for the rain. The ponds in the village that were once full of water now had dried up. Then, not many days later, they dried up and cracked. The dead fish were exposed. There was only a small puddle the size of a basin. The remaining fish struggled to survive, hoping that the rain would come in time to save them from death. But the rain was still far away, and only flocks of storks flew to catch fish, fighting for food, making loud noises.

Every day, the people in the village could only look at the blue sky and sigh. The nameless water trickled down day and night, but it was still not enough for daily use. Every now and then, somewhere in the small village, a couple could be heard arguing because there was no water to wash clothes or no straw to feed the cows.

The sky is still blue and clear. The air is getting hotter. Stifling. Suffocating. People want the day to pass quickly, want the night to come quickly so they can enjoy a cool breeze. Even when they get into bed, they can't sleep because it's so stuffy. Fans and air conditioners are running at full capacity. Someone joked that if the power goes out right now, it would be the end. It's true. Luckily, since the price of dragon fruit has dropped, people have stopped using lights, so there are no more power outages during the dry season.

Newspapers and TV reported that this year, due to the influence of El Nino, the weather would be record hot. The villagers could only sigh and look at each other, what else could they do but put their worries in their hearts, the vegetables out there were growing well but the pond had dried up, if the rain didn't come in time, they could only pull them out and sell them as soon as possible to get as much money as possible.

Just when everything and everyone was tired of waiting for the rain, it really did rain. It was impossible to describe the joy of both people and things. The air became calmer. People rushed to catch crabs and frogs. The barking of dogs from the fields continued all night. Although the first rain of the season was not enough to moisten the surface of the land that had been parched for months, it was enough to make the tiny grass sprout. After just one night, many tiny green grass sprouts emerged from the ground. People breathed a sigh of relief. So, just one more rain would bring grass to graze. For the country people, that was enough to make them happy.

After the rain, the trees seem to come back to life. The tamarind tree that was still bare yesterday has now begun to sprout a few purple buds. The royal poinciana tree is the same, its young shoots protrude, looking up at the sky in bewilderment, then a few days later shyly showing green buds, ready to call the brilliant summer. The remaining fish in the pond are happy because they narrowly escaped death, although the pond water is not much, it is enough to avoid the long beaks of the storks and herons. As for humans, it is impossible to describe the joy when it rains. If you don't believe it, just look at the country market after the rain, full of country dishes: frogs, young tamarind leaves, perch, snakehead fish, goby fish... floundering in buckets. There are also bundles of young, green, eye-catching field spinach. If you fry that with garlic, it will "burn" the whole pot of rice.

All these small joys are brought by the rain. Rain is the savior that revives this countryside. Therefore, every time someone shouts “Rain! Rain!”, the whole village happily prepares their fishing buckets, fishing rods, and charging flashlights. And that night, the whole village holds a jubilant festival, with the sound of frogs singing, dogs barking, people calling each other… All of these create a chorus of rhythms, bustling in a corner of the countryside.

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