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I arose from my sleep and listened closely to what sounded like small animals walking on the roof of our tiny, mud hut. I sat in the cold air and waited for it to go away so that I could go to sleep. However, the noise wouldn’t stop. The air felt heavy and my face felt damp when I rubbed my eyes. I thought about what this could be, and why these animals were continuing their night time adventures. I looked over to the entrance of our hut, where my father was sleeping. He would always sleep by the entrance to protect us if anything tried to come in. His long braid was sticking out of the hut and I noticed that the end of it looked a bit wet. It was a darker color of brown in the area that it was outside of the hut. I tried to wake up my father by tapping him lightly on his shoulders, making sure that it didn’t seem like I was striking him, so that my own hands wouldn’t get chopped off. He opened his eyes, and sat up and said in a quiet voice...

“Nenia, why do you wake me so early? What is wrong?” He looked around our hut.

“I don’t think anything was wrong but I am puzzled by the sound.” I said. We took a moment to listen to it.

“Do you want to go outside with me and investigate?” I was scared but so curious. What was it?

“Father, I am scared but I want to know what is there. Will you please take me outside?”

“I am glad to see you be brave Nenia. Come with me.”

I noticed him feel down his braid until he got to the end where it was wet. He squoze out the braid and a few drips came out. He looked confused and looked at me with raised eyebrows but didn't say anything.

I looked at my mother, sister and two brothers and then at my father. I put on my fur coat and my brown, soft leather boots. My father signaled for me to come and we both walked outside. By the moonlight, I could see across the long flat area between our house and the other houses. Usually, this long flat area would be dry and dusty over the hard dirt but this time it was moist and a little bit squishy when I stepped down. I looked at all of the small, brown, square houses that were all a darker brown than usual. All of the sudden, I noticed my arms and the top of my head getting wet. I didn’t expect to be wet and it scared me, since I didn't remember feeling like this in the middle of the night. It was the first time this had happened to me in the middle of the night.

“I am wet! What is this?” I put my hands out to feel the falling, wet substance. I looked at my dad, and his eyes got so big that I thought they might explode!

“Nenia, if I could tell you I would. But I am not sure what this is! Though, I think that it has happened before.” We both waited in silence while the water soaked through our coats. We live a very dry desert in Mesopotamia. I have never seen this ever happen before in my lifetime.

“A god or goddess must be angry. But what god or goddess is this? I have never seen anything like this before!” I said.

“Good thinking. We should find out which god or goddess is responsible for this and speak with them. I just don’t know how to do it.” My father said confidently.

The sun was beginning to rise through the dark clouds. We could see and feel the water falling much harder now, as it pounded down upon us. Immediately a huge gust of wind slammed into our village causing my friend, Araina, and her family hut to suddenly collapse. This startled both of us as we jumped and took a few steps backwards. The reality struck me and tears of devastation streamed from my eyes. I fell down on the wet ground and covered my face and cried intensely. My father knelt down next to me and I heard him crying too. He hugged me tight and lifted me back to my feet. We ran to her fallen home and we started to dig with our bare hands as fast as we could.

It was too late.
I cried, and cried, and cried.
I remember so many fun times that I had with her. We had known each other

since we were babies and had stayed together ever since. On hot summer days we would walk together to the river and swim. When it was cold, we would sit by the fire and tell stories together. We were inseparable. I never thought anything like this would ever happen. What would I ever do without her?

After many minutes of tears I came to a realization. Even though this is probably the worst thing that has ever happened to me, I must keep living ​my ​life. I have to pursurvier.

I felt like part of me was gone. It felt as if a whole section that I had held in my heart forever, had been instantaneously lost. I must go on, but how?

“Father this is so horrible.” I said between sniffles. I started to cry again. “Yes. This is horrible.” He turned and looked at our hut. “Quickly! We need to

gather everyone out of their homes! All of the houses are made of mud. When it gets wet it changes shape. They could all cave in soon! We can’t let this happen to the other huts. Nenia, you warn the East homes I’ll tell the homes toward the West.” I felt like going back to sleep, but I remembered what I had just realized. I was so she shocked at all of this happening so quickly. It was so hard for me to process all of this but there was a whole village in danger and they needed safety. As I ran through the wetness, tears kept running down my cheeks. I was so scared and sad but at the same time I was so curious. Within minutes, we had everyone in the village gathered together.

“I’m sorry to wake you up so early this morning. But as you can see something is not right. Do you feel the wetness soaking into your clothes? Look at the ground it is soaked!” He paused as the group looked at the ground and some murmurs went around the circle. “Look at that house! It is made of mud and when mud gets wet, it changes shape.” I heard some gasps and fearful whispers. “Nenia’s best friend, Araina lived there.” I heard many people starting to cry and so did I. “Please, for your own safety I think you all should gather your belongings and stay in the cave. It is made of rock and will protect you.” He looked around the crowd at all of the terrified faces, and then at me. Some young children started to cry and their families were holding them close and whispering quietly into their ears.

“Father, look at this... it is not ok for all of these people to have to do this. They are all losing their homes.” I said. My father nodded.

“I am just trying to protect them. There is nothing else I can do to help. I just want them to all be safe.” He looked at me with heavy seeming eyes.

All of the sudden, an idea struck me like lightning. My father said that we should find the god who is causing all of this. But he didn’t know how. Well, now I know how!

“I’ve come up with a plan!” I whispered in a exited way. He widened his eyes and kept looking at me.

“What is it?” He whispered back

“We should go on a long, hard and dangerous trek to Mt. Dena, where we can speak with the gods. They will tell us where to find the angry god or goddess behind all of this.”

He took a moment to think and said “You are so brilliant!” He put his hands on my shoulders and said very quickly, “Gather your favorite belongings. I will gather a satchel of dates and apples. We have no time to spare. We will walk during the day and sleep when it is dark. We will arrive in approximately 6 days. That is, if we don’t take breaks during the day. But I understand if you need a break, this is your first long journey and you are going to be working through a lot of feelings. You, and I, have both had a horrible morning. ” he gave me a very warm hug that made the empty feeling in my heart disappear. I know that my friend will always be in my heart no matter what. I knew that if I could, Araina would be coming with us physically but she will definitely be coming with us spiritually and deep inside our hearts.

I thought about what I would pack and how long this journey would actually take.

“Ok. Should I tell everyone?” My father looked at the crowd of people walking towards the rock cave. “Yes. Run to the cave and tell them all. Say goodbye to our family for me. Like I said, we have no time to spare!” He said.

Doing all of this right away after my best friend had died seemed like too much and my father was not being very comforting.

“Ok. I will. Then I will gather my favorite belongings and meet you by the entrance of our house.” I said slowly.

“Sounds great. Thank you for this wonderful idea. Nenia.” He said.

I ran over to the crowd and said in a loud but calm voice, “I am here to tell you that my father and I are going on a journey to Mt. Dena where we will speak with the god or goddess behind all of this.” Some gasps and wows went around. Then I said, “we will work on building stronger huts when we get back. We will need people to design them but we will all work on building them together.” I looked around the cave at the sad but thankful faces. I didn’t know what to say so I just said, “Goodbye! Wish us luck!! We will take probably about 14 days and we expect that the journey will be long and dangerous. Goodbye!” I said once again. Then I walked to my mom and she hugged me and said, “Thank you. You are so brave. I am so sorry about your best friend. Tell your father That I love him. I wish you much luck on your journey. I love you Nenia.” A tear fell out of her eye. Then all of my brothers and sisters rushed up an hugged me with tears in their eyes too. “Bye! I will miss you all so much!” I said. And they all said bye back to me. I stepped away and waved and then I walked out of the crowded cave with tears swelling in my eyes.

I walked to our old hut and looked inside. I saw my leather bag hanging on the wooden stick that was leaning against the wall of our small mud hut. I saw my shawl, my blanket and my water jug, made of very tightly woven reeds. Those were the items that I would need most. Hydration and warmth. I ran into the hut and very quickly, I grabbed my bag. I turned to my bed and grabbed my blanket, my jug and reached into my basket and grabbed my shawl. I quickly stuffed everything into the bag. I was going so quickly because I didn't want the hut to fall on me.

My dad gathered food and sprinted over to me at the entrance of our hut.
“I need to put water in my jug.” I said.
“Ok. But be quick.” He said, pointing to the man made faucet by the field of wheat. I ran over

and filled it up as fast as I could. Then I popped the lid on and ran back to my dad. “Let’s go. This will be a long journey.” He said smiling at me.
I nodded and we were off.
We walked out of the village and over many hills. The sun was just beginning to

set when we had reached a large boulder. I had twisted my ankle along the way but didn’t complain. By this time, we were both soaked and my long hair in braids was dripping wet.

“Nenia, we should start looking for shelter of some sort. We should try to make fire. But I’m not sure if this water from the sky will allow it to happen.” He said in a slow, doubtful way.

“Yes. Good idea.” I paused to take a look around. “How about alongside that rock. It arcs to one side providing just enough room for us to stay dry underneath it.” I

felt like it would be a good place since my ankle was hurting and we needed a place to rest for the night. I was also very hungry. My dad turned around and looked at the large arched rock.

“That looks great Nenia. Let’s walk over there. You must be hungry. I have some dates, rice and apples.”

“I’m super hungry! Let’s go.” I said. I was so excited to eat!
We were both exhausted, the kind of weak and tired that you can experience in

your bones. We walked over to the rock and out of the wetness. We set up a good place to sleep and we were finally able to lay down our burdens and eat. I told him about my ankle and he told me to try to sleep it off and that it would be better in the morning. We were able to make fire and we dried off by the warmth while we chatted and kept snacking. I enjoyed this time with my father and almost forgot how treacherous our journey was. The sound of the droplets of water was very comforting now, and I had gotten used to the sound. I wasn’t so scared any more.

It was as if the sound of the droplets falling from the sky onto the ground had disappeared. But when I thought of them, the sound came back. This time together took my mind off the droplets and the recent loss of my best friend.

I thought about my family at home and I wondered if they were safe, had their huts fallen down. Then I drifted off into a deep sleep and woke up the next morning just after sunrise. My father was already putting things into our bags and putting rice and dates into a clay bowl for me to eat. I quickly ate my breakfast and put my blanket into my bag. The water was still coming down. I wondered when it would stop. Would it ever stop? Where would the water go? My father had told me that one day a long time ago, the rivers overflowed and wiped out all of our fields. We were without enough food for a few months but we were able to get by with a lot of water and eating meat. Would that happen again? Would the animals survive the floods? I took a gulp of water and popped the lid on my jug. I slang my bag onto my back and put on my leather shoes. Then we walked off into the distance.

Over the next 7 days, we took breaks during the day and found a sheltered area each night. The rain stayed consistent pretty much the whole time but every once in a while it would stop, the sun would peek out and soon be overwhelmed again by the dark clouds and the driving rain. We drank rain water along the way and found many wild berries to munch on.

On the 8th day, we came upon the mountain. We’re so tired and worn out. But we were so glad to have made it. We decided to stay at the base of the mountain for the rest of the day and the night. We needed a long rest. We needed to be dry and warm. We also needed to eat! We had practically run out of rice but had just enough left. We had no dates left and only had 2 apples. The berries that we had been eating, were no

longer growing where we were, and the ones that we had saved had got eaten by wild animals during the night.

We made a waterproof structure out if branches, sticks and huge leaves for the roof. We made a fire and warmed the rest of our rice. We shared one of the apples and saved the other for breakfast.

The next morning, I woke up very excited. I needed an explanation for the water. I wasn’t sure whether or not I should wake my father, but I decided to let him sleep. He looked really calm, like he was having a good sleep. The sun had already risen and he always gets up with the sun, or a little before. I waited a few minutes and then his eyes opened.

“Good morning. I can not wait to speak with this god and see what the problem is with them.” I was so eager to go to the top of the mountain. We could see a well worn path up the mountain to the rock where people regularly went to make requests of the gods.

“Wow! I slept longer the I usually do. I must have been very tired. Shall we pack our things?” He said in a sleepy voice. He was trying to sound like he had been awake for hours but it wasn’t really working.

“Yes. Let’s get going.” I said.

We packed and and began to hike up the tall mountain. When we got to the top there was a temple where the gods and goddesses can come out and speak. A goddess whom I have never seen, came out. This goddess was tall and and wore a lot of gray and white and blue. She looked calm and happy but she looked like he was soaking wet. She was wearing a very flowy light blue cloak but it too, was completely wet. She had a grayish blue halo around her. She had something that looked like clouds that she was floating on with the same droplets that we had been experiencing falling out of it. Her long blue hair swayed each time she moved.

“​Why are you here? What do you wish to know?” ​This goddess spoke in a very strong, but quiet voice.

“We would like to speak with the god or goddess of falling water.” My father spoke very slowly.

“Well! That is me. I am the god of Rain. Rain is the water that has been falling for days on end.” ​She paused and looked at us. I could see anger in my father's eyes. ​“Do you wish to know my name?” ​The goddess said in a louder voice. My father did not say a word.

“Yes please.” I said since my father didn’t say anything.

“My name is Ishka, god of rain.” S​he said looking at me. I nodded. Then I turned to look at my father who was staring Ishka dead in the eyes.

I looked back at Ishka and my father told her, “we have come all this way to ask you about it. Since the rain has started, some of our mud huts have fallen down and-” I

cut him off. “My best friend died and her family.” All of the sudden, tears started rolling down my cheeks-again. I thought that I might just completely run out of tears. My dad hugged me tight and continued talking. “Our family and our people are living in a cave.   It is not fair to them or us.” I looked at him, hoping he couldn’t see my fear and sadness and only heard my words. Ishka gave me a look of sympathy.

“Let me tell you something... if it weren’t for me, you would be dead. All of you. Where do you think you get the water from in your rivers and streams? Well you get it from me. When I rain, water falls onto mountains or hills and runs into the rivers. You use the rivers to irrigate your fields for food. If you don’t have food you die. Also, look at your water jug. You first filled it up from a spout. There is a pipe that runs from the spout to the Tigris. The water from the Tigris is from me.” ​She raised her eyebrows and gave me a little look.

Before I could say anything my father said sternly, “But at the same time, you are making our huts fall down and causing our village to disappear.”

“You need to realize that if I don’t exist, neither do you.” T​ his time I could tell that Ishka was getting frustrated with my father- for good reason!

“Bu—” My father was trying to say something but Ishka cut him off.

“Think about it this way. I am helping you, because this teaches you that you need to build stronger houses. Maybe weave in some stronger fibrous items or make it out of logs.” I​shka said in a calmer voice but I could see that she was still mad.

“Well...Stronger huts will keep us warmer in the winter, now that we farm the land and don’t move with the animals, perhaps, we could build houses of stone. Thank you Ishka. I am sorry. We will bring your words back home and build stronger huts. Thank you.” My father realized how foolish he was being and lightened up a bit. I was glad about that. It was quite embarrassing!

“I’m glad you understand. Hold on. I will be right back.” I​shka said cheerfully. He went back into the temple but signaled for us to stay there. She came back with a satchel of fruit and nuts for us to bring with us on our journey.

“Thank you so much!!” My father said gratefully.

“Ishka, you have thought my father and I so much. We are so grateful. Thank you so much.” I said genuinely.

“I was so grateful to be able to help. Have a wonderful journey back home.” S​ he said.

“Goodbye!” She said.

“Goodbye!” We both said, and began our long journey back home. We mused about the new houses we would build, and the ways in which our houses would fit together. By the time we arrived home, we had envisioned a whole new world.

The End