once upon a time,
there was a tiny cactus in a large valley.

the tiny cactus lived day by day,
going about its cactus routines.
he wasn't happy, he wasn't sad;
he didn't feel, for he didn't have to.

one night, the tiny cactus felt little droplets of salvation
free-falling from above.
the water droplets filled him up and embraced him,
from inside out and outside in.

soon, he himself started to produce tiny droplets as well.
he remembered now,
he had experienced this phenomenon - rain - before.

he had waited through
countless waxing and waning of the moon
for the rain to return again.
but it never did, and his walls grew tougher
until he didn't need the rain anymore.

and now that it was back, now that he could feel again...;
despite the thickness of his walls,
gentle streams of fluid were flowing out of him.

now that the rain finally came back,
all the tiny cactus could do was cry.