The Not-So-Thirsty Crow

"What If?...", he asked. It was still raining. It had been that way as far as his little memory served. The crow had grown up in an area of perpetual rain.

Imagination hits beings in the best or the worst of their moments. The crow was at his best when a series of "What If?" questions piqued his mind. 

One such question was about the possibility of a drought. 

"What if there is little to no water left?", he wondered.

He looked around at fellow crows, pitied at their lack of imagination and with a determined look at the sky, decided to solve the problem.

Through a series of experiments, he arrived at the conclusion. Stones of a certain construction don't absorb water and can be used to raise the water level. The trick was to use enough of them and look for smaller pools of water. What happened next amused him. He suddenly had a beard with salt-pepper hair.

He called upon all his fellow crows and shared his invention. 

He was able to control the naysayers with his oratory and inter-crow skills, while they were still appreciating his beard.

"So, here's the thing. We need to collect enough of stones as per my prescription. Store them in your nests. Carry some of them along with you always."

"How do we choose?"

"How do we carry them?"

"How do we store them?"

"How would you teach all of us in a short time?"

He smiled at the innocence of his fellows and declared:  

"Nature is beautiful. Look at all these trees - the root, the trunk, the branches and the leaves. I am launching a train-the-trainer programme. "

There was an applause across the trees. Those sitting next to him felt a sudden surge of power and first signs of beard appeared in them.

Then, it all started. 

Crows were proud. A hectic schedule of training became a daily routine.

There were some hiccups which they didn't mind - a shorter life span, nests which needed continuous maintenance because of weight of stones and so on. There were stories of how some silly ones mixed their eggs with the stones. 

There were also stories of the first theft of stones ever reported. An idea of crow police was discussed and shelved. "One thing at a time.", The Leader remarked.

Everyone was happy with their futuristic approach and their beloved leader.

There was no drought in the life time of The Leader and the crows of the clan.

Stones were passed on generation-to-generation as inheritance. 

Today, some crows sell polished and designer stones. Some trees have stone museums. There is a Shrine of the First Stone in memory of the first stone which The Leader had picked up, although its history is disputed.

Today whenever a crow needs to drink some water, he/she throws a stone in the water before drinking it. It is supposed to be good omen and to bring good health.

Next month there is a conference of the crows where they are presenting on how invention is the mother of all necessities. There's this rumour going around about conspiracy of rejection of a presentation submitted that it should be the other way round. 

"It's all hearsay." is the common agreed upon opinion.