“Clouds sure are pretty, huh?”
Alex snapped out of his book instantly. Visions of prisoners in Bastille vanished as he slowly regained consciousness of his surroundings.
“Huh? What?” he asked.
“I think the clouds are just pretty today,”
Alex looked up. The sky is big over the field they were in. He can see a few round, fluffy clouds in the east and streaks of white against the pure blue higher up.
“Yeah, sure, nice one Cass,” he looked back at his book, trying to find the place where he left off. Cassie pouted and looked at his book.
“The French Revolution? Come on, Al. We’re in a pretty field on a beautiful day. What’s with the book?” she said, obviously annoyed by his studiousness. “Close that thing for a while and lay back,”
With a sigh, he dog-eared the page and closed the book slowly and carefully placed it at his side. Cassie smiled and laid on her back in the short grass. Overhead, she can see the sky between the branches of a shady tree.
Alex looked at her for a while, and did the same, crossing his arms under his head. The clouds floated slowly across the sky.
“Hey, I can see a bunny!” Cassie said suddenly, pointed to a cloud. Alex squinted at the cloud. “They all look like bunnies to you,” he said.
“Come on,” she laughed. “What does that one look like to you?” she pointed to a pure white cloud a little apart from the others.
Alex squinted again. “Looks like a cumulus to me,” He can hear Cassie sigh beside him. “On second thought, it does look like a plate of mashed potatoes,”
He looked over to his side. Cassie had her eyes on the cloud, and she is smiling a contented smile. For some reason it made him smile, too. He turned his gaze back to the sky.
The sky looked deep, as if you could get lost in it if you gaze long enough. Some clouds seem further up than others, making the sky seem deeper. A soft breeze blew, bringing the smell of grass and wood and swaying the branches above. The sound of leaves rustling is deafening, but pleasant.
They laid back in silence, just enjoying the moment of peace.
“You know,” Cassie said, after a while. “I think green, blue and white are a really nice combination,” she kept her gaze at the sky through the swaying branches.
“Uh-uh,”
“Not much of a talker, are you?”
“Nope,”
“Is something wrong?” she said, concern in her voice.
He looked at her, and she was looking intensely at him, her eyes seemed to be looking deep inside of him, brow furrowed in concern.
He sighed and looked back at the sky. “I wish today never ends,”
There was a long pause as Cassie looked back at the sky and thought deeply. “Yeah, me too,”
He looked at her. The clouds are reflected in her eyes. Her voice is soft and gentle as she spoke, and there was a sadness in her voice.
“You know, this must be what heaven feels like,”
“Yeah,”
The leaves rustled again. Far off, at the horizon, a tiny point of light is slowly growing in size.
“I really – never mind,” she said, “That one looked like an elephant’s head,”
“Cass,” he said, his eyes on the growing point of light. “It’s close. I can see it from here,”
“Don’t look at it,” she said firmly, her eyes searching for a shape in the clouds.
“Cass, we haven’t much time left,” he said, anxiously. “Can you promise me one thing?”
“What?” she said, distractedly.
“Well, if – if –” he hesitated. “If, say, heaven is real,” she looked at him. “If heaven’s real, will you come and look for me?”
“You don’t believe in God,”
“No, I don’t, but if it was real all along, will you?”
“Yes,” her eyes are downcast. “Yes, I will,”
“I’m glad,” Alex said, and relief was in his voice. “I’m really glad,”
She looked at him, and tears were silently running down from the corner of his eyes.
“I’m scared, Cassie,”
Cassie moved closer and hugged him, and he tried so hard to keep from crying, but the tears won’t stop coming.
“Hush, now,” she said, still embracing him. “It’s ok. Let’s just look at the clouds for now,”
He nodded and laid back, his face hardened. Cassie laid down close to him and laid her head on her chest, and he put an arm around her waist and held her close.
They both tried to keep their gaze away from the now rapidly growing light in the sky, and tried to just enjoy the moment, knowing it will never come again.
