The day he left the rain started to fall
For three months the sky was wet
The people stayed inside at first
They pushed their faces up against the glass
And watched the rain drops through their condensed breath
They watched the movies they had made and read the books they had written
When they were finished they watched each other

The land soaked up the water at first
But soon the streets were rivers
The people raised their houses up on sticks and moved about by boat
They ate mushrooms that grew well in the cold and damp
They grew their hair long to stay warm

In July he returned
The rain stopped and the water drained away
The world returned to the way it had always been
But the people were not the same
They liked the mushrooms that grew in the cold and damp
They liked their boats and their houses on sicks
They didn't work so well in this dry world with streets and trees and rules

Its time for you to leave this place the people told the man
He was sad to go, but he saw that the people were people of the river now
He couldn't bring back their rivers or their mushrooms
And he couldn't shave their hair or cut down their houses
So he packed away his sunshine and left the town

The people missed the man who was once their friend
But they knew that life was better with him elsewhere
So they painted his picture in their hair
And feasted on river mushrooms