This story and its illustrations are part of my art collaboration with @everlove for her INVITATION: Collaborative Art Journey..." L I F E S T A N D S S T I L L ".
The Rain Fairy and the Armies of Ants
Down in the valley, between the rolling green hills, sat a quaint little cottage with a picturesque garden. In this garden grew poppies and roses, lavenders and daisies, and peonies.
There were lots of peony plants, red ones and white ones, and one solitary pink one. On this pink peony lived two ants. The two ants loved to drink the nectar from the peony, and spent their days running up and down the peony bud. There was more than enough nectar for both of the ants, but anytime their paths on the flower crossed they argued over which of them owned the peony. There was a whole garden of flowers, and they could have their pick of any, but they both only wanted this flower. The fact that the other seemed to want it made the flower even more appealing to them. The peony had become a prize they were both willing to fight over.
Each ant told the other ants they knew all about the peony flower, and their battle over its special nectar. Before long it wasn’t just the two ants fighting over the peony, but two armies of ants! They fought over the flower until the peony became weak from holding the fighting armies. The peony bent her head with sadness over the bitterness of the arguments and destruction around her.
The clouds looked down and saw the peony hanging her head low. They brought themselves nearer to the ground, lowering a mist across the garden. When the clouds came closer they could see the warring ants and hear the harsh words being spoken.
The queen of the clouds bent down to the peony and kissed her leaf, leaving behind a tiny blue dew drop. Inside the dew drop, wrapped up tightly in ball, was a small baby rain fairy. She was growing inside the tiny dew drop egg.
After 3 days and nights the surface of the dew drop broke, and the delicate rain fairy emerged. She could see the warring ants around her, and feel the sorrow of the peony running through the leaf beneath her feet. The rain fairy raised her arms to the clouds and drops of water began to fall from the sky, landing on the peony bud and rolling down its surface. As each rain drop landed and rolled down it carried with it one of the fighting ants, until all the ants were in a puddle of water beneath the flower. Waving their antennae in the air and calling for help, the ants looked like shipwrecked sailors. In an act of kindness, the rain fairy told the peony to bend her head even lower. The peony bent her head to touch the surface of the puddle and the ants clambered on to her soft petals and found refuge.
After that day the two armies of ants learnt to share the peony. The peony lifted her head to the sky and opened her petals as a sign of gratitude to the clouds. The rain fairy made her home on the peony nestled amongst the soft ruffles of the petals, but she always kept an eye on the garden. She was ready to step in if any of the creatures forgot how to share the beauty that was their world.
Don't forget to check out my post Rain Fairy- a Collaborative Art Journey with @everlove, it's about drawing the rain fairy and my original collaboration on this with @everlove.
A very beautiful story of arts, I love it! Thank you so very much for this one, I will share this with a few people over the next while, the next long while. ;)
Namaste :)
That's very kind, i'm glad you enjoyed the story @eric-boucher :D
Maybe it will come to mind next time you see an ant running up a flower!
...And every time I see peonies as well! Maybe even every time I see vegetation bending down, or people bending down to help others!?! Magnificent story in words and images, thanks again. Namaste :)
A pleasure to share it!
This is beautiful!
Very kind, thank you @pixielolz :D
Let every minute of life be bright,
Saturated, unusual,
Full of unforgettable impressions
And pleasant surprises!
Wonderful words! Thank you!
Your art gives me inspiration.Thank you:)
Wonderful to hear from such a creative soul as yourself @yoshiko
Absolute genius! I've been watching your posts for several days now thought I had followed you, but apparently not. I've fixed that. You truly are giving value to the community, thank you!
What a lovely comment thank you@smuggly-sparrow!
Such a heartwarming story. A young child could easily read and enjoy it and appreciate the need to share whatever they love the most.
An adult could equally enjoy it, perhaps seeing the wider implications of ownership and control ~ Especially with things that are essentially meant to be there, for us all to share. The story illustrates the need for greater harmony in this world ~ And that it IS possible.
Beautifully illustrated.🐜 🌺 🐜
I happy you picked upon those themes. And yes, I try to write my stories for all ages so that everyone can take something from it.
This is my favorite piece so far. Well done.
Thank you, @candidfolly. What makes it your favourite? The story or illustrations?
A little of both. I do like the delicacy and the fresh colors in the illustrations. The story delivers its message with compassion and without judgement. Also I have a thing for rain, but that's just me.
That's awesome, thank you! I have a post about rain, actually I have a few.
https://steemit.com/art/@opheliafu/00-59-97-seconds-of-rain
https://steemit.com/art/@opheliafu/the-black-shore
https://steemit.com/art/@opheliafu/rain-clouds
Thanks for the links!
nice. lovely illustrations to compliment a lovely story.
Very sweet, thank you @duanesworld.
Enchanting. :)
Hopefully the spell isn't too deep!
No, not at all! Keep doing what you're doing! :)
With this touch I stay really beautiful, congratulations lady @opheliafu her work is wonderful.
have a beautiful day
Thank you so much @jlufer, you always have wonderful things to say. You are a generous soul!
beautiful... just love it
Awesome @globaldoodlegems :D
Aww I was ANTicipating this and I absolutely love it! Thanks for sharing
Excellent, glad you enjoyed the read!
There's a lot of morals to learn from a story like that! I think I should read it to my little niece!
Amazing art.... master piece
😁Thankk you!!
This post received a 43% upvote from @randowhale thanks to @cryptofunk! For more information, click here!
Amazing work..you a truly drifted
Love this thank you for sharing <3
deserve my upvote and resteem....nice story
Very good story and theme. Will love to read to my daughter! Thanks for sharing!!!
Cerita anda sangat menarik, ilustrasi anda luar biasa.
Love it.
cute drawings
Great post. Keep it up.. Upvoted and following you. :)
It is like an illustration of fairy tales.It is so beautiful.
Beautiful!!! @opheliafu
beautiful line quality, I love seeing your work
I love peony, beautiful story and beautiful drawing =)
That's beautiful and really nicely done; I like the way you mix a story into the art.
There is always enough and it can be a win/win for everyone!
What a beautiful story @opheliafu---a truly lovely read. This is one of my favorite pieces of your art---it says a lot! I'm really appreciating the style of these pieces, and the illustrations are beautifully peaceful. The faerie in the dew drop is very clever. This was a fascinating execution of the challenge. Powerful contribution. Thank you for sharing yourself with us.
A pleasure to collaborate with you @everlove :D
@opheliafu thats very beautiful story of art i upvoted ad followed you .You can check my story too
https://steemit.com/story/@diverse-thinker/100-words-one-story
Nice post:)upvoted and followed:):)
Oh I love this. Very nice :)
that is a beautiful story and such a beautiful art :))) I'm in love :)
This is such a great idea to do on Steem it--I love your work!
Amazing art! Upvoted and followed you @ofeliafu . I guess were on the same page of interest hope youll follow me too
I like the choice of colours!
Touched. :) You brought back my childhood memories where beautiful stories where illustrated with beautifully drawn pictures.
It's a beautiful story and beautiful drawings @opheliafu
I hope to see your pices of works and to refresh my mind. Than k m you :)
happy steeming
Awesome artwork, I'm a huge fan of the watercolor and style :D
These illustrations are hypnotic!
This is an awesome post!
Thank you for visiting.
I can hear you often.
that's amazing story, loved it
Thanks for sharing and inspiring.
I am totally blown away by the illustrations! Scrolling up and down... up and down..
The second one with an and on a bud is my most favorite.
This is unbelievably creative!!!
@opheliafu beautiful Work! looking forward to seeing more of your stuff. I think it is really cool how your are presenting your material
Beautiful art, beautiful story! I hate ants and you made them so life-like that I could barely look. I was cheering when the ants were drowning until I read your message about the act of kindness. Glad to hear that the ants learned their lesson. I love your work so much that I can't put it in words. When I do think of it, I will be sure to let you know.
That was beautiful, I'm going to read it to my kids tonight as there bed time story!
there is something very organic the way you make your work. what a beautiful collab! :)
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I'm going to kill off your account because of this spam.