The raindrops arrived back in a state.
“People are saying we’re raining cats and dogs,” they announced. “We would never do that. Not ever. Not in any weather.”
The King of the Clouds laughed. “Ah, that used to bother me too,” he said. “People say all sorts of things.”
“But what do they mean by it?” the raindrops demanded.
“Nothing specific. When they say ‘raining cats and dogs,’ they simply mean you’re coming down very hard. It’s just an expression.”
The raindrops considered this. “All right,” they said, somewhat mollified. “But that’s not all. Some people said it was raining pitchforks.” They looked horrified. “We would never rain pitchforks. They’d hurt everything — people, children, animals. We love to splash and have our fun, but we’d never do anything cruel.“
“Of course you wouldn’t,” said the King of the Clouds. “Pitchforks means the same thing — raining very, very hard. Only an expression, same as the other.”
“Just an expression,” the raindrops repeated, trying it out. They began to feel considerably better.
“Go back and play,” said the King of the Clouds.
And they did.
