Please note that while I take the names of established goddesses, I did not research them so I'm mixing and matching different mythologies and making up rituals etc. around them.
The rain had to stop, it just had to. Reclining on her plush chaise, Aya despaired. This was her fault. If she could just shine brighter, do her job better, the sun would come out and the rain would stop. It was her duty, after all, to take care of the sun. Yet all there had been for the past few months was rain. Dodola, the goddess of rain, was besting Aya at everything she tried.
Aya performed her light dance, but Dodola had her followers perform their most sacred dances. And so the rain continued.
Aya polished the sun's rays, but Dodola polished each rain drop. And so the rain continued.
Aya asked Dodola to give her a chance, but Dodola left her pleas unanswered. And so the rain continued.
Now the world needed rain, Aya knew this, she accepted this, but did it need this much rain? Had Aya's followers grown lax in their worship? Or, worse, had they abandoned her altogether?
As the rainy months continued, Aya languished. Nothing she tried was good enough it seemed. She began to even lose faith in herself.
And so the rain continued.
After eight months of rain, Aya got a plea from one of her youngest followers, saying she could not even remember the sun. Aya decided--with grim determination--that she wouldn't give up. The rain had to let up. She would make it. She would bring sunshine back to the world.
She danced her dances. Polished the rays. Sent visions to her followers of gloriously sunny days ahead so they wouldn't forget what a world with sunshine could be. Accepted offerings and sacrifices, but offered to share them with Dodola, for certainly they didn't have to be enemies.
And she never, ever, punished the followers of Dodola. Other deities had encouraged this, but it never sat right with her. Dodola, after all, hadn't punished Aya's followers except with rain. And rain was meant as a blessing to Dodola's followers, not as a punishment to Aya's. No, the followers were not to blame for this spat or for the rain.
Slowly, Aya saw improvement. The rain clouds remained, but the violence of the storms lessened. The intensity of the water falling lightened. And days began to be more distinct than nights. Perhaps even some sunlight snuck through the clouds.
On the 366th day, Dodola finally answered Aya's pleas.
Dodola agreed to give Aya a chance. They did a dance together and brought about holy and vibrant sun showers. The people had never seen such a thing, but they marveled as the light hit the droplets and delighted in the feel of warmth and rain at the same time.
The days of rain had not quite ended, but at least the sunny days had started again.
(Prompt by Kimisha Cassidy)
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