Once upon a time there was a drop of water named Higgins.
Higgins was no ordinary drop of water. He was a drop with a dream.
Higgins lived in a valley where it had not rained in a very long time, so all the lovely green grass was turning brown, all the beautiful flowers were wilting, and all the trees were starting to droop.
Higgins had a dream that one day the valley would be a beautiful place again. But what could he do? After all, he was only a drop of water.
One day Higgins decided to travel and tell others about his dream. All the other drops listened very politely, but no one believed that his dream would come true. “Higgins,” said one, “get your head out of the clouds. You can’t spend your whole life dreaming.”
Higgins decided that he had to do something to make his dream come true. So he began to think and think and think. One day, as he was walking by a rusty old bucket, he got an idea.
“If enough of us drops of water got together in this bucket,” Higgins thought, “there would be enough water to sprinkle on a few flowers to help them grow and become beautiful again!”
Eagerly, Higgins told everyone his great idea. But everyone thought he was being foolish. “That Higgins is nothing but a dreamer,” they said.
Higgins decided he had to do something to convince the others that he was right. So he said to them, “I don’t know about you, but I’m getting into the bucket! I hope some of you will join me. Then there might be enough water to help at least some flowers grow beautiful again.”
So Higgins ran as hard as he could, hopped way up in the air, and landed with a kerplunk in the bottom of the bucket.
And there he sat . . . JUST A DROP IN THE BUCKET.
For a long time Higgins was very lonely. It seemed like no one else was going to join him. But after awhile some of the other drops could see that the grass was dying and the flowers were wilting and the trees were drooping. They all agreed that something must be done.
Suddenly, one drop shouted, “I’m going in the bucket with Higgins!” And he leaped through the air and landed—kerplunk—in the bucket.
Then two other drops yelled, “Wait for us!” And they hopped through the air and landed in the bucket. Then ten drops jumped through the air into the bucket. Then thirty. Then fifty! And then hundreds of drops came from all around just to hop in the bucket!
Soon, the bucket was completely full of water. But there were still more drops that wanted to join, so they found another bucket and hopped in. Before long, there were two buckets of water—then three—then four—then ten—and then hundreds—and then thousands of buckets of water!
Along came a powerful breeze that blew over all the buckets, and all the water flowed together to make a mighty stream. Everywhere the water flowed, the grass turned green again and the flowers bloomed and the trees stood tall and straight once more.
All this happened because Higgins had a dream and his dream came true. Because he knew that although he was just a drop in the bucket, enough drops in the bucket make a bucketful, and when there are enough buckets with the wind behind them, then justice will roll down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.
Storytelling Tip: This story provides a good opportunity for talking about the work of various charitable programs, such as the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC), Oxfam, the United Nations Children’s Fund, Greenpeace, and Habitat for Humanity. You can discuss with children how collecting for UNICEF at Halloween or putting 50 cents a meal into the UUSC’s Guest At Your Table box may not seem like a lot, but all the little drops in the bucket can add up. You might also tell them that the last line in the story echoes the words of Amos, an eighth-century BCE Hebrew prophet. (Amos 5:24)