You Shouldn't Touch That

Picture if you will a beautiful open field with elegant vibrant rose bushes scattered about nestled in the heart of the woods far from the roads and houses of a small little town. It’s here in this field you would often find the Grey siblings romping about, making friends with little creatures that called the woods their home, playing games of tag and tug-o-war and such. Currently the brother and sister lay side by side in this field staring up into the crisp blue sky watching the clouds pass them by.

Cloud gazing was always one of their favorite things to do. Little Jacob Grey would get so excited when a shape floated lazily above him, he would jump up and call it out before his sister Julie even had the chance to squeak out a syllable. Today unfortunately though the sky was blue and the clouds were plenty neither sibling could make a shape out of the fluffy mounds of white.

That was until Jacob remember something he had seen his mother purchase at the store last Halloween. The scrawny six year old boy with his messy brown locks once again jumped up per the norm, nearly scaring his sister half to death.

“I know what they look like!” he bellowed, “ they look like those bags of fake spider webs Mom bought last Halloween, you know…the ones in the bag that we had to stretch and pull to cover stuff with!”

Julie sat up, leaning back on her elbows and looked up at the clouds and then at her brother. “I mean, I guess.” She spoke softly.

“I bet I could reach up there and pull them apart and stretch them out and make them make shapes!” Jacob exclaimed, and before his sister could express that she happened to think that maybe clouds were one of those things you shouldn’t touch he was off, sprinting towards the closest tree.

Julie sat up and began to chase after her brother, yelling as loud as her mousy voice would allow, “Jake! You shouldn’t touch that!”

By the time she had reached her brother his adventure up the tree had already begun and Jacob was too high up to heed a word his sister was saying.

 Julie wasn’t as speedy at scaling the gnarly branches as her determined sibling was, so by the time she had hauled herself into a standing position on a low hanging perch Jacob had stretched a hand above his head and sank his fingers into the rolling white puff above.

“Julie! Hurry, you have to feel this! It’s squishy like pizza dough!” Jacob was beside himself with delight as he snagged a handful of the cloudy mush and dragged it down towards the foliage surrounding him.

He wrapped the end around a nearby branch, and the goo caught on bark and snagged leaves, using the tree as an anchor to keep the cloud still while the children played. Jacob maneuvered his feet and kept his balance hands free then stretched both arms above his head as high as he could. As he pushed into the cloud with his palms in a kneading motion the edge of the cloud began to spread outward.

Julie finally joined him among the canopy of leaves and cloud bits. Tentatively, she reached out a single finger and poked at the strand tethered to the branch while her brother tugged and pressed the cloud in every direction he could reach.

“Ew, it is squishy! That is so not how I imaged clouds would feel.” Julie said as a look of disgust mixed with a hint of enjoyment played across her face.

Just then, a large Blue Jay landed on a nearby branch and seemed to watch the children maneuver the sticky cloud with exploratory fingers and joyful faces.

“Stop!” The children, startled at the sudden outburst of sound, nearly lost their balance and went tumbling to the ground far below. Managing to catch themselves, the two tree top dwellers whipped their head to and fro searching for the source.

“Stop!” they heard again, this time seeing the birds beak move in sync with the sound. “You aren’t supposed to touch those, you know.”

Never before had Julie or Jacob heard a bird say anything other than the standard tweedle-dee, but the Jay forgave their slack jawed stares and continued his earnest message.

“No one must disturb the clouds. They exist as they do for a good reason, far above the ground and away from little starlings like yourselves. They tend to be quite a hazard.”

Jacob was the first to break his stunned silence. “Hazard? What do you mean? All clouds do is float around and make shadows.” As if on cue, the trio felt a sudden lurch from below.

The Blue Jay took this opportunity to spread his wings and take to the wind, but not before offering one last cryptic sentiment to the two flightless creatures left holding on to whatever part of the tree they could reach.

“This is exactly what I meant. Don’t let go, Chickadees. You’ll be back on solid ground in no time. I just hope you recognize the place where you land.”

The tree beneath them gave another groaning lurch and this time they both felt the tree tip slightly to the left. Then suddenly, with a roar like thunder that sent the leaves shuddering around them, the entire tree was torn from the ground and lifted swiftly into the sky. Turns out clouds are much stronger than they seem. 

Reviews

[Kyle Wynn]

Very interesting! It was a really good idea and great execution. I really enjoyed it!

[roarke]

I enjoyed reading this fantastical moment. Well written, engaging. Great image involving the clouds. Do a bit more with the Blue Jay in this one, make him a bit more mystical. Nice work.