LONG LONG AGO, when the earth was still new and covered with forests and babbling creeks, two friends enjoyed frolicking through the woodlands and playing by streams together. ThunderLizard was an awesomely big lizard with shiny leathery skin. He loved hot rocks, sandy beaches and his best friend LightningDragon. LightningDragon was a golden glistening dragon, tall and majestic, with a fiery laugh. Lightning loved wet woodlands, rushing streams and his best friend ThunderLizard. Lightning and Thunder were inseparable and together they roamed the forests. They were welcome in the forest homes of all the animals, for they were a kindly pair. If a baby bird fell from its nest, Thunder was there to comfort the hatchling, while Lightning gently lifted it back to its perch. Thunder and Lightning’s favorite activity was to play in the rain, for they both loved stormy weather. Thunder liked the way the rain washed his leathery skin free of all dust and sand. Lightning liked the cool rush of rain over his hot head and neck. When it rained Lightning would laugh with glee and a roar of fire would fill the air. Thunder would slap his tail in joy, making a huge rumbling sound. Lightning’s fire and Thunder’s rumble could be seen and heard for many many miles.

Thunder and Lightning had happy lives. But as the years went by, the days grew hotter and drier and the rainy season grew shorter and shorter. Thunder grew stronger and tougher but Lightning’s golden scales were cracking and splitting and he had lost some of his lively spirit. One day Thunder realized that Lightning was ill from the hot weather and that he could no longer live in their beloved forest. So Thunder and Lightning set off on an adventure northward in search of a new home. For many days, weeks and months, Thunder and Lightning travelled over hills and around mountains, across streams and through forest after forest. One day it rained and Lightning lifted his great head to the sky and roared majestically. Thunder figured they had come far enough, and the two settled in to roam the woodlands and forest in their playful manner.

Many years went by and Thunder and Lightning had happy lives. The nights were too cold for Thunder, but Lightning kept Thunder warm with his fiery breath. Thunder was content although he did miss the hot rocks and sandy beaches of his homeland. As Lightning's shiny armor grew stronger and brighter, Thunder's skin began to grow damp with the cold and a chill set in. Thunder shivered everyday, all day. With great sorrow he and Lightning realized that Thunder would have to move back to the land from where they had come. On the saddest day in all of time, Thunder said farewell to Lightning, and the two parted ways. Thunder went south to the land of hot rocks and blazing sunshine and Lightning travelled further north to realms of cool icy earth and glacial streams.

Many years went by and Thunder and Lightning lived their separate lives. Rain storms came and went but the earth was silent and the sky dark, there were no bursts of fiery laughter nor joyous slaps of thunder. Still, nature has her mysteries to share, and one day the sky broke loose with rain, the sun burst through the clouds, and high above the earth rode a rainbow, a shimmering arc of splendid colors. Light and water dressed the sky in so colorful an outfit that Lightning could not contain his joy and he arched his head to the heavens and let forth a mighty roar of laughter and fire. Far, far away, Thunder, his head tilted upward in awe at the magnificient rainbow, saw the blaze of light. Hope filled his body as he slapped his tail thunderously. Far, far away, Lightning heard the distant rumble. He lifted his head upward again and laughed loudly with mirth and fire. Again Thunder saw the blaze, and slapped his tail in joyful reply. And so the two friends found that when it rained, Lightning could laugh his fiery laugh, and Thunder could slap his thunderous tail and each would know that the other was happy even if far away.

Many years have passed and Thunder and Lightning have lived their lives in distant harmony. Each rain storm Lightning lifts his head to the heavens and roars forth a fiery greeting to his friend ThunderLizard far away in the south. Each blaze of fire is followed by the joyous slap of ThunderLizard’s tail as he greets his friend of the north, LightningDragon.