Submission (#3407) Approved

Clear skies, crystal blue waves gently brushing against the warm sandy beaches, large trees where you can rest in the sand, and bright colorful umbrellas in every drink. Sunflower had grown used to the pleasant weather on the Palu’au Islands and learned why they were the number one spot for vacationing for elnin. With miasma season not quite over yet, the amount of tourists were still minimal on the islands. That didn’t stop the residents from taking the opportunity to enjoy the beaches. Even Sunflower found herself lounging underneath the shade of a large palm tree, her back resting against the trust of the tree. Sitting next to her on her right side was an incomplete letter to her parents, and sitting to the left of her was a fruit punch drink with large ice cubes and a colorful umbrella poking out and resting on the edge of the glass.

Sunflower was taking her time with her letter. Expecting the entire day to be sunny and pleasant, she saw no reason to rush. She could take her time mulling over her words and pick the perfect ones to write down. Her father was a writer and storyteller - so whatever she wrote down needed to be enough to impress. Or not embarrass him, at least.

The kittom closed her eyes and let out a soft sigh. She had only meant to rest her eyes for a moment, but when she opened them back up the air was a few degrees cooler and the blue sky had been replaced with puffy clouds of different shades of gray. Sunflower was busy staring at the sky, completely forgetting that clouds could exist at the Palu’au Islands or that they could be a different color besides cotton ball white. She hadn’t noticed the raindrop falling from the sky until it hit the sandy ground next to her, narrowly missing the parchment paper of her letter. When she looked down to access the situation, more dark spots began to appear in the sand around her. The wind began to pick up and the leaves of the palm tree and the nearby flora began to rustle and shake. For the first time that Sunflower knew of - a storm had come to Palu’au Islands.

Sunflower’s body began to move on it’s own. She didn’t need to think about her actions as she quickly grabbed her letter and rolled it up, placing it in her bag and hoping her bag could withstand any rain that came down on her. When she reached down for her unfinished drink the kittom saw that the colorful drink umbrella had blown away from a gust of the wind, now fluttering down the beach and far from her reach. She grabbed the glass and stood up as the sound of rain grew louder and the area around ehr began to become obscured by heavy rain. Even the large palm tree leaves above were no match for the power of the rain, dripping water down into the shady spot she had used as a safe haven all morning. Sunflower dashed out from under the palm tree and into the rain.

There wasn’t a specific area she was planning on seeking refuge in, but more of a general area instead. The hut where she had bought her drink wasn’t far, and there were other huts in that area as well. Even if she couldn’t head inside one of the buildings she could at least try to find shelter underneath one of the huts that was raised above the sand. Keeping her bag close to her chest in a feeble attempt to keep the bag and its contents dry she headed towards where she remembered the drink hut was. It took longer than she had anticipated to reach the huts, hindered by a combination of gusts of wind, pouring rain, and her feet sinking into wet sand, but she eventually made it to the area with all the buildings.

In one of the huts was a familiar face. A kittom with bright green eyes and bright orange and yellow fur was hard to miss, even in the downpour of rain. The kittom, Outa, had noticed her as well and motioned for her to quickly come over. Sunflower didn’t hesitate as she used the last of her strength to dash towards Outa and head into the hut he was in. Once inside she took a moment to catch her breath as Outa closed the door behind her and locked it up to keep it from slamming open from the wind. Sunflower was still working on collecting herself as Outa grabbed a towel from another room and returned to the main hallway to help dry Sunflower off. 

She was grateful for the help, and as she moved her eyes to look at Outa she realized something. In the midst of holding her bag to her chest and running, she had never let go of her drink cup. However, she had managed to tilt it to its side and must have poured the contents out, so she was now standing there with an empty cup. When Outa noticed the empty cup he raised an eyebrow in amusement and offered to take it off her paws. Sunflower let him take the cup, and as Outa went to go put it with his small collection of dirty dishes in his sink Sunflower decided to check the damage on her bag and its contents. The bag was soaked, but thankfully everything in the bag, including her letter, was still dry.

Sunflower spent the rest of the day inside with Outa. After drying off the two of them sat near the window to keep an eye on the storm as they played a few games of cards. It wasn’t how she expected to spend the day, but despite the surprise of a sudden storm she enjoyed spending time with her friend playing games.