Kenule and the Magic Rain Boots

Kenule and the Magic Rain Boots

There was once a boy whose name was Kenule, but his friends and family members called him Ken. He loved rainy days and playing in the rain. All year long, he waited until it was the rainy season to play in the rain. Then one day, his parents decided to move into the city. They left their house in the country because Ken’s dad had got a new job in the city. So, they packed and got everything ready. The moving men came and loaded everything into a truck, and then Ken, his Dad and Mom set off.

After a long journey, they came to the city. The city was very different from the country. It was the dry season, and it was really hot. Ken tried to get some sleep, but he could not because of the heat. “It is so hot!” he said, tossing and turning on his bed in his new room. Then he heard a  rattling sound. He got up and looked around. There was nothing to be seen, so he went back to his bed.

He listened, and there was a rattling sound once again! So he looked around once more but could not see anything. Then he listened carefully and noticed that the sound was coming from the closet. He got up from his bed again and wondered what he should do. “Was it a rat?” he thought as he stepped towards the closet.

“Should I call Mama and Papa?” he asked himself and remembered that his dad had stepped out to go grocery shopping with his mum. He was all alone in the new house. He walked closer towards the closet and opened it.

There in the closet was a pair of rain boots. Ken took them out. They were so black; they were shiny. Inside one of the boots, there was a note. He took it, unfolded it and and began to read out loud:

Put me on and out you can go,

I’ll soon make it all wet with rain!

“I wonder what it means,” Kenule said as he took the boots out and put them on. He then went outside. Just as he stepped out, the sky began to grow dark, and suddenly, it started raining. Ken screamed for joy. He jumped up and down. He ran around yelling, “It’s raining, it’s raining!”

All the passers-by on his street looked up, and sure enough, it had begun to rain. Soon, Ken’s lawn was covered in rain. He started waddling in the puddles made by the rain. “The rain is so cool and refreshing,” he said as he wadded through one large puddle to another. Then he stood with his arms spread out, and he imagined that he was an angel while the rain washed over him. His parents finally came back. They were surprised when they saw the boots.

“Where did you get those boots? I don’t remember getting you a pair like those,” said his mother as she ushered him indoors.

“I found them in a wardrobe!” he said and wondered if he should tell his parents that he believed that the boots were magical and could make the rainfall. He decided he wouldn’t tell his parents just yet because he was not sure that it was the boots that made it rain. “They won’t believe me. They are unlikely to believe that these are magic boots!” He told himself.

The following day, the sun was up, and it was as hot as ever. On top of that, it was a school day too. Ken wasn’t very fond of school. “I hope it rains so hard that the teachers will send us home early.” He wished.

He put on his rain boots and stepped into the kitchen where his mum had just finished making breakfast. “It’s not going to rain today, darling. At least the weather forecast didn’t say so. You don’t need rain boots on a day like this,” his mother said when she saw the boots. Just as Ken stepped out of the house with his rain boots on his feet, it started to rain!

It was exactly as Ken had hoped. Also, just as he had predicted, the principal gave the school a half-day off school. Kenule was happy because he could play in the rain to his heart’s content. That day, he played a little too long in the rain that day, and he fell ill. He had to stay in bed the next day. The rain stopped during the night, and by mid-morning, the day started growing hotter and hotter.

“If only I could step outside with my rain boots and make it rain again,” Ken thought, looking outside dreamily. It is so much more fun when it rains, and everything is wet, and you can play in the rain. I can even imagine that I’m a rain angel,” he thought, yawning, and soon he fell fast asleep again.

Then he had a strange dream. Suddenly, he found himself in the middle of a wooded area. A beautiful lady was standing in the middle of a circle of stones. She looked really distraught, and Kenule saw tears streaming down her pretty face. “Someone has taken  my magical boots; it has been gone on for so long!” She said when she saw Ken. He was so frightened when she addressed him that it startled him awake.

When he opened his eyes, he saw his Mom bringing him chicken pepper soup to drink. He got up and drank the soup. He could hardly keep his eyes open because he was already sleepy before he even finished drinking the delicious soup. He went straight back to sleep but almost before he shut his eyes, he was dreaming again, and the lady was still in his dream. She was still standing inside the circle of stones and crying. Ken felt so bad seeing her cry that he told her he would help her find her boots. He made her a solemn promise that he would find her boots and bring them to her. He then fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

By the time he woke up next morning, he was feeling much better and did not even remember the dream. When he went to the kitchen for breakfast, his mum was happy to see how well he looked.

“I was worried you’d have to miss your first scout outing.” His mum had signed him up for the scouts, and he was really excited to go on his first field trip. They were going on a camping trip into the woods. It was still early in the day when Ken and five other children in his patrol set off with Mr. Abimbiman, the scout leader. It was drizzling a little when Ken was about to leave his house. So, he made sure to wear his raincoat and the boots he had found in the closet. The scout leader drove her troop through cities and villages until they came to a stop at an inn by the woods.

“We are stopping here for dinner. We’ll spend the night here and set off for the woods where we’ll pitch our tents and camp tomorrow,” explained   Mr. Abimbiman. Ken unpacked quickly after supper because he was tired after the long journey. He got on his bunk bed and slept peacefully.

The next day they all got up early and went into the forest. It was a bright and sunny day. They walked and walked deeper and deeper into the woods.

“These are ferns,” said Mr. Abimbiman as they passed a patch of pretty tall leafy plants.

Then they came to a field full of flowers. They set up their tents, and then Mr. Abimbiman called them together and said. “Let’s play a game! Whoever collects the widest range of flowers and names most of them will win a toy truck! Let the games begin!” he said, handing a small basket out to each scout to collect flowers. Ken set off eagerly. He was determined to gather as many flowers as possible so he could win the game. As he began to pick wildflowers, he was happy to see that he knew the names of some of them because his mum was a keen gardener, and he helped out a lot in their garden at home. He also picked a few flowers that looked familiar, although he could not quite recollect their names just then. He hoped the names would come back to him before the end of the game.

Ken saw that the other patrol members were also eager to gather many varieties of flower. Then he stopped suddenly because he found himself standing in the very part of the wood he had dreamt about even though he had never been in that forest! He walked on and came to a stone circle in the middle of the field. Shocked to find that everything in the woods was as it was in his dream, he looked around to see if he could find any of the other scouts and tell them about his dream. He realized that they were nowhere to be seen, and he was all alone. Although he was scared, he was also curious. So, he went closer to the stone circle, and there, sitting in the middle on a stone, was the same beautiful woman he had seen in his dream! She was crying most pitifully.

“Why are you crying?” asked Ken approaching her.

“Oh, if only I’d taken better care of those boots!” she wailed, “the Wicked Wizard of the Woods has only given me one more day to find them!.  I must find the pair of magical boots before nightfall or the Wicked Wizard of the Woods will turn me into a weeping willow tree.”

“Do you mean rain boots?” asked Ken thoughtfully.

“Yes! How did you know?” she asked, wiping her tears.

“Wait here and I’ll be right back!” he said, leaving behind the flowers he had gathered and running back to camp. He grabbed the rainboots from his tent and raced back into the woods. There was no one around to notice him.

He ran back to the woman and held up the rainboots. “Are these the ones?”

“Yes!” said the woman clapping her hands, amazed. 

She took them in her hands and looked at Ken. “Thank you so much. You see, these are magical boots. I cleaned them and forgot to put them into their box. They have a way of disappearing if they aren’t put back into their box.”

“Oh good!” said Ken. “I’m glad I found them and gave them back to you,” he said, smiling. He was feeling relieved that he could be of help, although he was a little sad to be parting with the boots that had given him so much joy.

Then the woman looked at the flowers that Ken had gathered and asked. “Why are you picking flower?”  He replied that he was a scout and that it was a game.

“Do you know all the names of the flowers?” asked the woman looking at the flowers he had gathered inside the basket.

“Some, but not all,” he said truthfully.

“My name is Iwin, I am a fairy, and I know all the plants in this forest by name. Show me the ones whose names you don’t know.” She said picking up the bag of flowers  and handing it to  Ken.Ken looked into the bag and pickes a flower. He thought it was pretty. “What’s this? Do you know the name of this purple one?”

“That is a meadow cranesbill,” she said, looking at the flower. Then Ken picked up another flower and asked what it was. He did this several times until he knew the names of all the flowers he had gathered. He thanked the lady and went back to the camp.

All the other scouts had returned. When it was Ken’s turn to show his collection and name them, he named them all and Mr. Abimbiman was impressed. He clapped, and when everyone had done naming their flowers, Ken was declared the winner.

Ken smiled. He was awarded a  remote-controlled off-road truck, everyone clapped and he could not  believe how lucky he was. Then they all played with the toy truck. The night at the camp passed by happily. Early next morning, Ken went back to the stone circle to see if he might find Iwin, the beautiful fairy again. He wanted to show her the truck and thank her for helping him win it, but he never saw her again.