Chapter One: Everfair Does Not Deliver Rain

Everfair had three hundred and sixty-four sunny days each year. The remaining day was known as “the day the rooftops forgot to turn off the tap.”

Milo the rabbit worked in the post office at the very top of the clock tower. One of her ears was longer than the other, and a blue postage stamp was always tucked beside the shorter one. Every morning, she sorted the mail into three piles: letters for the end of the street, letters for beyond the mountains, and letters whose addresses were so romantic that they had to be guessed.

That morning, the third pile held only one envelope. It was soft and plump, like a pillow fresh from the clothesline. Its stamp showed no king or queen—only one round drop of water. The addressee line read:

For the little cloud who refuses to rain.

Milo turned it over. A shy wisp of mist covered the return address. All she could make out was the final word: Valley.

“A postwoman cannot pretend not to see an address just because the address is shy.” She slipped the letter into her yellow mailbag and fastened its star-shaped clasp.

The mailbag gave a tiny sneeze.