Tales for Children - The Adventures of Walter Dewdrop

This childrens story is for my granddaughters, Caitlin and Karin. When they’re old ladies they probably won’t remember their granddad well- but maybe they’ll remember this story.

The Adventures of Walter Dewdrop - a childrens story

By Arthur Thomas Ware. 21^st March 2009

Once upon a time, a long time ago, in an ocean far, far away, there lived a little Water-droplet named Walter Dewdrop. Walter was so happy. He could ride the waves, frolic in the crests of foam and watch the seagulls and albatross fly by high above. Walter really loved being part of all that water. It was glorious.

One hot, bright summer day he rose to the very crest of a wave and – suddenly – he was gone. He’d been snatched up by Atmosphere. One moment he was a Droplet, the next moment, Air. Well, sort of part of the air. He’d turned into a Vapour. Yes, he was a Vapour, along with millions and millions of other Vapours. They were all around him. Atmosphere had just grabbed them all up. And he was being pushed along quite fast.

Walter didn’t like this much. But he got used to it. He simply let go and drifted along with the breeze. He kept rising higher and higher. The birds, which had always been above, were now below. Walter was riding higher even than the great sea eagles. The view was wonderful.

Suddenly it began to get colder. Something was happening! What?...What?...

Walter was a Water-droplet again. He’d put on weight. But he was still right up in the air, yet he didn’t fall. His friends, who had had this happen before, said that he was now like them: part of a cloud. And that was what he was- and a mighty big cloud it was too. Enormous! -a thunderstorm cloud.

And high! Walter felt himself being drawn up, up, up! It seemed he’d never stop. It got very, very cold. Freezing in fact. And that’s when Walter noticed something terrible happening. His skin was getting sort of rigid, stiff. Then… next moment – he was an Ice.

Well, not a block of ice. But sort of like that. He was clumped together with a heap of other Ices and they didn’t like it. Somebody, called The Elder, said that they were Hail now- hail stones. They certainly felt hard enough to be stones. It hurt when they knocked into each other. Oh! Oh!

There was a terrific din going on. Flashes and crashes. It almost seemed as though their giant cloud was bumping into things. “A thunderstorm,” Elder said. Then. Oh! Oh! Walter was being whirled around and round and…

Whoosh!

Next moment, he was thrown towards the earth. Yes, thrown! Walter came down through the cloud at a terrific pace. Suddenly he was out the bottom. Crash! He banged onto something hard. Well, he and those other Ices who were clinging to him, all crashed into something hard.. Crack! Other Ices were coming down. They were banging around him, some even landing on top. Smooth as clear glass, they were sliding and slipping over one another. Eventually, though, they stopped coming down. The roaring stopped. The Ices – “Hail,” Elder called it - turned into water droplets. The big cloud above them moved on and the sun came out and it was calm again. Walter could actually hear birds singing. And they were above him – oh, joy!

That’s when Walter got a funny feeling he was going all jelly-like. He was melting. Yes, he, too, had become a Water-droplet again. He was getting back to normal. But where was he?

He looked around. Was he in the Ocean again? It seemed the Water droplets were everywhere, stretching out as far as he could see. But as time passed by a lot of them were disappearing. Oh, no! - so was he.

Walter was going down again, but gently this time. It was then he realized he was soaking into the ground. He couldn’t get back up. More Water-droplets were coming down on him pressing him further and further into…?

Rock. He was in the rock. He’d gone right through Grass and right through Soil into Sandstone- rock. Well, that’s what Elder told him. He was sure glad to have Elder around. He seemed to know everything. But it was so dark. Walter couldn’t see a thing. “Better get used to it.” one of his companions said, “You might be here for a million years.” “Maybe a billion,” said another.

“Is that so,” said Elder. You maybe right…Then again, you may be wrong.” He was very open-minded, was Elder.

Goodness! Walter felt like he was in prison already. He didn’t want to stay for an minute, let alone a billion years. It was so dark, cramped and cold. He hoped they wouldn’t have to stay for long.

He need not have worried. For quite unexpectedly Walter felt himself moving. He was being pushed by all the others. They were pushing and jostling him. He just had to go with them. Then, out of the dark he came into the light. Yes – light!

“Goodness, gracious me!” cried one of the older raindrops, “A chance in fifty billion. We’ve come out onto the edge of a man-made cutting through the rock; a highway. Oh, goody!”

And so they had. Laughing and chucklin the Water-droplets trickled down the side of the cutting and landed safely in a smooth and slippery concrete drain.

It was quite nice in the drain. It felt warm. The sun shone down and Walter could see flowers and bees and little birds flying high above where the edge of the cutting met the sky. He was quite content to just once again move along with the flow among all the other droplets who by now had become his friends, having had so many adventures together. But Walter noticed that their slow, leisurely flowing was picking up. The roadside flowers were going by more quickly than before.

Suddenly they all tumbled one after another alongside the roadway, going faster and faster as they went down a steep hill. It was very exciting. They even went through a few tunnels, where there were some small green frogs and some black beetles.

It was even more exciting when they went over a little waterfall at the end of a pipe and fell into … Well what was it? “A stream,” Walter was told by Elder. They were in the stream. From now on they couldn’t go wrong. “Don’t fight it,” Elder said, “ just go with the flow.”

And they did.

Down the stream they went, down, down, down. Now they were in a big river. They went down this, too. It took a while. And then - Lo!

…Walter couldn’t believe it. Well not at first… He and all of his friends were back in the sea again. They returned to the Ocean. They’d come home. Home! Now Walter could play and romp below or on the surface, he was told. Walter liked that idea. Maybe he’d get picked up again. Maybe Atmosphere would grab him again, and his adventures would begin once more. It was an exciting prospect. Still, it was very nice to be home again. Maybe he could stay for a while…a million years sounded good.

I hoped you enjoyed this Tales for Children - Walter Dewdrop - enough to want to relay it to your own kids or grand kids. I guess there are many tales for children, but this one is sort of 'educational.' Pity more childrens story books didn't run to such educational content.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed Tales for Children - The Adventures of Walter Dewdrop.

Be happy.

Tom.