
The Girl Who Collected Rain
Listen to story
May 22, 2026
Stories are AI-generated with editorial curation.

Listen to story
May 22, 2026
Stories are AI-generated with editorial curation.

When Vito was three years old, he noticed that the Moon had a hole. At least it seemed that way — every night the Moon looked smaller and smaller, as if someone was taking bites out of it. "Mama, the Moon is breaking!" he shouted one night. Mama laughed. "Those are just phases, Vito. The Moon isn't breaking." But Vito wasn't convinced. He packed glue, tape, cloth, and a flashlight into a small backpack. "I'm going to fix the Moon," he declared. His father, sitting in the living room reading the newspaper, lowered his glasses and looked at his son. Most parents would have said, "Don't be silly," or "Go to sleep." But Vito's father wasn't like most parents. "Alright," he said. "But you'll need help. I know someone who tried the same thing once." Vito looked at him with wide eyes. "Who?" "Me. When I was your age, I wanted to fix something that couldn't be fixed. Come, I'll tell you what happened..."

Maja was a girl who was afraid of the dark. Every night, when her mom turned off the light, Maja would dive under the blanket and wait for morning. But there was a peculiar old lady living on her street — Aunt Margareta — who had the most beautiful garden in the whole town. The problem was Aunt Margareta never worked in her garden during the day. Never. Neighbors whispered about it. "We saw her digging at midnight." "Planting flowers at three in the morning." "Watering roses under the stars." Everyone thought she was strange. One night, when Maja woke up at three a.m. and couldn’t sleep from fear, she looked out the window. She saw Aunt Margareta kneeling in her garden, hands in the soil, and — singing. The next morning, Maja knocked on her door. "Mrs. Rose, why do you work in the garden only at night?" The old lady looked at her with warm eyes and said, "Because at night, plants do something miraculous that people don't know. And when I show you, you'll never be afraid of the dark again."

In the backyard lay a broken swing, and Dundo and Pino were getting ready to fix it. Little Vito sat on the grass, holding a box of screws, while Jole sniffed around, eagerly waiting for his chance to help. "How are we going to fix this, Dad?" Pino asked, as Eva watched and smiled from the window.

Pino and Vito jumped out of the car and ran towards Luca's farm. The tall grass glowed yellow-green under the sun, and somewhere in the distance, the bray of the donkey Berto could be heard. "Why does the donkey shout so loudly?" asked Vito, his eyes wide. Pino chuckled as Luca waved from the barn door. "Come on, I'll show you everything!" shouted Luca. But Jole stood frozen under the old fig tree, staring at the approaching goat. "Dad, what about Jole?" Pino asked.