The Lightning Storm Friends

Lily loved visiting her grandmother's farm. She especially loved the old pond where she went swimming every afternoon. One day, while resting on the grassy bank, she noticed something strange.

Her iPhone, sitting on her towel, began to glow with a soft blue light. Curious, Lily picked it up. The screen showed live video of the pond, but there was something extraordinary in the water. A magnificent bull with golden horns was doing backstrokes, and beside him swam a gentle bear with silver fur!

Lily rubbed her eyes. The creatures couldn't be real — but the iPhone showed them clearly, splashing and playing together like old friends.

Suddenly, thunder rumbled and lightning crackled across the sky. Lily looked up to see dark storm clouds gathering. When she glanced back at her phone, the bull and bear were gone.

That night, lightning flashed continuously, illuminating Lily's bedroom. Through her window, she saw two shadows dancing in the storm — the bull and bear, leaping from cloud to cloud!

The next morning, Lily rushed to the pond. There, etched into the mud near the water, were enormous hoofprints and enormous pawprints, side by side. And lying on her towel was something shiny: a perfect lightning bolt shaped stone, smooth and warm.

Lily's grandmother smiled when she showed her the stone. "The storm spirits left you a gift," she said. "They visit only those with kind hearts."

Lily kept the lightning stone always, and sometimes during summer storms, she would see two shapes playing in the clouds — her special friends, forever swimming through storms together.