Beautiful Clouds

So after an eternity, here are those chapters. Feel free to tell my how awful they are. :)

Chapter One- I am here.

“Beautiful clouds eh?” He paused and then sighed. “What if I died today?”

“You know I hate it when you talk like that.”

They lay there in the grass. He turned his head, resting in the palms of his hands toward her, letting out a sigh through a smile and said, “It’s reality darling.”

“Must everything always be so real?” She turned her eyes towards him. They were dark brown. Her hair was black. Her complexion, of a brownish tint, was slightly pale, however. She wore a long blue dress covered in white flowers with no shoes or socks.

“For the moment…” He paused. “For the moment, I guess this right here could be reality for us.” He grabbed her hand and she smiled. A lightning bolt struck where they were lying.

Henry awoke from his dream. He let out a sigh and looked over at the vacant pillow that lay next to him. “Lightning bolt.” The rain made a rhythmic pitter-patter as it fell upon the house. The lightning flashed, emitting brightness that could be seen through the windows. Henry sat up and looked at the broken window with its DYI of duct tape. “I suppose it’s better than a baseball.” He stretched his arms and turned from his bed with his feet sliding into his slippers as he sat, slumped over like most of the coffee deprived adults. Henry heard a scream and the rhythmic pitter-patter of small feet running down the hall.

It was one of his daughters. The lightning had made her little heart faint and she ran, fleeing from the bright lights and the roar of the clouds that came afterward. “Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!”

“Yes Ally?” Henry said calmly and attentively

She was winded. “Daddy! Daddy…window…lightning… (She made gestures with her hands) Flash! And…and then boom!” She fell down, apparently passed out. At times, she could be a drama queen.

“Oh dear.” Henry really didn’t have a clue as to what he should do. He stared at her with an amused perplexity. Ally was no more than five years old. She liked to wear flowery dresses because she was told of how her mother would always wear flowery dresses. Ally looked just like her mom. She had brown eyes and dark brown, curly hair with a slightly darker complexion. She hated wearing socks and shoes because she was told of how her mother hated to wear them too.

            A few moments later there came another set of tiny feet moving slower than Ally’s; the feet of Henry’s other daughter. Ally’s collapse had made quite a thud, giving Aila excuse to investigate, not too much the scream. Aila was no more than twelve. She also had their mom’s hair but she had Henry’s green eyes. Her complexion was darker than her sister’s, almost a solid brown. Like her sister, Aila also hated to wear shoes and socks. Unlike her sister, Aila liked many strange and creepy things. She was always melancholy, even when their mother was alive. She didn’t much care for the flowery dresses but wore dresses nonetheless. Stripes and solids, almost all black and white, like billiard balls in an old movie with no color.

Aila stood in the doorway, half-awake. She looked down at Ally and then up at Henry. Their eyes met. Aila then looked back down at Ally and grabbed her foot.

“C’mon Ally,” she said. “We have to get ready for school.” With that, she dragged her out of the room, rather sluggishly and down the hall and sighed. Henry looked down at his slippers and sighed.

            Henry remembered that he also must get ready for the day. He sighed once more and said, “Lightning.” The three met downstairs when they were ready. Aila and Ally were there before Henry, already eating breakfast. Thankfully, the girls were not so picky of eaters. Oats and a shared banana or apple sufficed the two quite nicely. Mornings were mostly quiet for them. Ally, in fact, loved breakfast and loved sharing the fruit with Aila. Henry didn’t talk much. He mostly sat, thinking, and drinking coffee.

They lived in an old, big house. The house was old but not too old. It was big but not too big. There was a time when the house was full and busy, many of the rooms rented out; but that time was gone and many had moved, perhaps to a place of more opportunity. The house consisted of four floors with the living room on the first. The stairs went up and then turned and then went up again to the top floor. Each floor had a balcony to lean over and look down to the first floor from. Each floor formed a square around which could be walked around. Each had two bedrooms and a bathroom. Each bedroom had its own generic furniture; a lamp, lamp stand, bed, a dresser, etc. The living room had one very large square rug with a hypnotic, circular black and white design on it (Aila’s choice). There was one couch that could seat six people, eight if they were small people.

            Most of the house was wood except for the fireplace and the tile in the kitchen and other things that would not make sense to be made of wood (and of course the carpets. Wooden carpets have never been very fashionable).  Then there was the basement. Only Henry ever went into the basement and when he wasn’t there, it was locked. There were always strange noise that came from the basement. Not scary noises, just strange mechanical sounds, some that Aila imagined were big metal bear paws (Being her favorite animal).

There came a honk in the driveway. The girls’ carpool was here. The town was small, in a wooded and hilly area, no more than a thousand people or so. With the town being so small there were few children. Aila and Ally attended the same school. Ally, insisting on going to school, started kindergarten early. Aila was in the sixth grade. When Henry’s wife was alive, she was very good friends with Margaret, the woman who drove the van for the carpool. Margaret was a widow who lost her husband in a mining accident. She noticed their bare feet as they walked and chuckled to her self, “Lily, I used think you were one of a kind…”  Aila and Ally waved goodbye to their dad. Actually waving goodbye looks like Ally blowing a kiss and Aila saying, “See ya.” Aila at times was bit of a tomboy.

Henry waved back. Ally insisted on getting in the car first and so took one of two vacant seats. The one left was next Oscar. Oscar was no more than thirteen and in the 8^th grade. Aila liked Oscar, and very much so. He didn’t notice her sit next to him. He was listening to some band saying something about anarchism, something he really didn’t mind seeing as how the music was loud and the people were screaming and seeing as how he didn’t know what anarchism was. Aila sat down and closed the car door. Her face began to redden and she looked down at her feet. “How are you girls?” asked Margaret.

            “Fine,” they said in unison. The car began to back out the driveway. Henry watched as they did. Aila slowly looked up towards Oscar. He felt her stare and looked back. She turned with swiftness, as her face became bright red. She looked out the window and studied the gray mass hovering above; it was raining.

 As Henry put on his raincoat, he noticed that Aila and Ally’s coats were still hanging up. He simply shrugged his shoulders. “It’s a warm day. They’ll just be a little wet is all.” He walked through the living room and into the kitchen where the door that connected to the large garage was located. He opened the door and was taken aback. There sat a large St. Bernard, well advanced in years. “Hel…Hello Bruno.” Bruno, one could say, belonged to the entire town. He wandered from everywhere and was found anywhere, though Henry never could quite figure out how he ended up in the garage from time to time. He petted him and the dog walked in the house and laid down in the living room. Bruno was very well behaved and very much enjoyed the presence of Ally. Ally, likewise, loved Bruno. She loved all kinds of animals, especially bears.

            There were two cars in the garage. There was Henry’s wife’s white Beetle and there was Henry’s brown station wagon (which looks to be made out of wood but most certainly isn’t). Henry looked at the Beetle and sighed. He opened the middle garage door and drove off to the mines to work.

Margaret and the children arrived at the school. “Okay kiddies!” she said. “Get out of my van.” Ally was talking to the other little girls in the back of the van about flowers and animals. Aila, still staring at the clouds, tried ever so discreetly to steal glances at Oscar while he was still lost in his band of anarchy. They filed out the van and walked into the building. Ally walked up to Aila and grabbed her hand. Aila proceeded to walk her to class.

“You be good now okay?”

“Okay. I promise!” said the smiling Ally. They hugged and kissed and Aila walked to her own class.

Aila heard from Ally’s class the teacher exclaim, “You’re soaked! Forgot your coat again I see. And your feet are caked in mud!”

“Mrs. Peggy it’s just dirt and water. Live a little! Life is phenomo…phemo…phomeme…phemonomon. It’s waiting to be explored.”

She grabbed a towel to dry her off. The teacher looked again at the soaking wet and muddy girl and said, “I see you’ve been exploring quite a bit.”

“Mmmhmmm. You know where I learned that? Do you? ‘Cause I can tell you if you don’t.”

“Where?”

“Mommy. Well actually Aila but she learned it from mommy.”

Mrs. Peggy paused and stopped drying her off for a moment.

“What’s wrong Mrs. Peggy?”

“Oh with me? Nothing at all!”

“Yes there is. You stopped and made this face.” Ally mimicked the teacher’s face, a mix of concern with sadness.

She looked at Ally and smiled. “I guess it’s just amazing how much you’re becoming like your mom.”

“Aila says that too sometimes. She says I’m just like mommy down to the T. Though my mom’s not a letter and there aren’t any T’s in her name.”

“She’s a bright a girl. She’s not so far off from your mom either. Well, you’re dry as I can get you! You’re free to go kiddo!” Ally ran off to the other side of the classroom where her and the carpool gang decided that the first order of business was to have teatime.

Aila smirked as she heard the voices of the kindergarten teacher and Ally dying out while she walked towards her class. As she turned the corner, she had an accidental collision with the janitor, which knocked her on her butt.  The janitor, a bit startled picked her up.

“You okay dear?”

“Umm… yeah. Fine.”

The old man squinted at her, which made her smirk. “Well it’s you Aila!”

“Good morning Mr. Sue.”

Mr. Sue noticed the trail of wet footprints in the hall and sighed. “You girls. You’re always giving me a bit o’ work to be doing aren’t ya?”

“I suppose so.”

“Well…you run along to class now!”

“I was until you knocked me down.”

“Well excuse me princess!” he said lightheartedly.

“I’ll see ya later Mr. Sue.”

“I’ll be seein’ ya Aila!”

Aila continued onto to class. She looked out one of the windows in the hallway. Still raining.

The clouds, that giant grey mass that covered the entire sky.; it was the same on that day…

Chapter 2: We are nowhere.

Once, many years ago, a young girl moved into a large house in a small mining town. She and her parents were immigrants from the East. The town was a promising one. They were refugees looking for a better life than the one they had left. The sky was gray and heavy with water. “The storehouses,” the young girl said. “They’re opening and blessing is on its way.” Her mother smiled at her and she smiled back. As they stood there, the young girl looked around to take it all in. So big she thought. The door opened so they walked in. “Hello?” she yelled.

“Hello!” came a friendly voice. The girl looked around to pinpoint the sound. She found it in a small figure on the 4^th floor. “Hello!” The figure grew larger as it came down the stairs. It was a tall man with broad shoulders and a thick black mustache. He wore overalls and a white button-down with brown boots and a cabbie hat. His eyes were green and his hair brown. He spoke from the side of his mouth where there was no cigar and said, “Name’s Henry. Put her there.” The man, very confused at the figure of speech, took his daughter and placed her in front of the man’s hand. Henry laughed which confused him even more but he as well as his wife laughed along in a nervous sort of way. The young girl chuckled at the confusion along with them. “A handshake is what I’m after,” he chuckled. “Not your daughter.” He looked down at her and said, “Sorry sweetie, but I’m happily married.”

“Oh, I see.” Chuckled the girl’s father and held out his hand. They shook.

“So what might your names be? Guessin’ you’re the new tenants?”

“I am Edmund. This is my wife Mary and my daughter, Lily.”

“Where do ya hail from?”

“Far. Very Far Away. In the East.

“I see.” His accent spoke for itself. He looked down at the girl. “Lily huh? How’d you come to get that name?”

“Even in the desert you can find beauty. You can find vibrant life. A desert lily,” she said. The statement caught him off guard. What a strange answer, he thought, for a girl her age.

She certainly was beautiful, taking after her mother Mary. She had black curly hair and big dark brown eyes. Her complexion was a fair beige like that of Mary’s but Edmund’s was a bit darker. Henry looked down at her feet and noticed she had on no shoes! Lily noticed his eye movements and said, “I shall wear neither shoes nor socks. I hate them. And only dresses with flowers.” As she finished, a young boy and a woman were walking in through the kitchen.

“Ah. The Mrs. and offspring,” said Henry. They joined the group. “This is my wife Juniper and son Henry. These are the new tenants.” They made acquaintance. Little Henry stared at Lily and smiled. She looked up. He looked down and blushed.

“Henry? Hmm… I think you’ll be called Big Henry and you just Henry.”

“Lily! Mind yourself,” said Mary.

“Sorry mum.”

“Oh it’s fine he chuckled, “She’s doin’ no harm at all.”

“And I think Juniper’s a pretty name.” Juniper smiled. Lily looked at her mum. “Almost as pretty as Mary.” Mary’s stern look once again melted into a smile under Lily’s gentle voice. “Mum, can we go play?” Henry looked up, bug-eyed with a bright red face.

“You are very sly Lily,” said Mary. “But I see no harm if Henry’s parents are okay with it.”

“Oh sure. Let the kids go and play,” said Juniper. Lily smiled ear to ear.

She grabbed Henry’s arm and ran out the door. “Let’s go!”

“Supper’s at half past!”

“Right mum!” said Henry. “Wait! Wait! Hold on! Hold on!” said Henry. They stopped.

“Yes?”

“Well…er…ummm. I know a place to play,” he said meekly.

“Really? Where! Please tell me.” She made a sad face with a pouting lip. Henry chuckled at her face. Though he would have never said it, he thought she was cute. It was an odd thought. After all, girls have cooties.

“I…okay. It’s-“

“Wait! I have an idea. Stretch your hand” He did as she commanded. She grabbed his hand and closed her eyes.

“What are you doing?”

“This will be fun! Lead me there and I will open my eyes when we get there.”

“How strange,” he said to himself. “Alright,” he assured her. “I will lead you.” They walked down the dirt road.

“So have you lived here your entire life?”

“Yep. My mum and Pa have too.”

“Does it rain a lot? I love rain.”

“Yeah, I don’t think a week has gone by where it hasn’t. Except in the winter when it snows.”

“Snows?”

“Yep.”

“What’s snows?” They stopped. “Are we there?”

“You don’t know what snow is?”

“Nope.” They kept walking, holding hands, her eyes still shut.

“It’s like rain but it’s not. Like really cold rain. Like ice but not like ice.”

“Like a crystal?”

“What’s a crystal?” Henry said. Lily stopped and then kept walking.

“It’s like a really shiny rock you can see through.”

“Well, it’s sort of like that. It’s really shiny but it’s white. And it turns into water when you hold it too long.”

“We don’t have anything like that where I am from.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Things would fall from the sky but they normally weren’t rain and never snow.” She said. “Well, how old are you?”

“Eleven and a half.”

“I’m twelve. Well, I just turned twelve. The road’s getting pretty steep. Hmm. Grassy too.”

“Just turned twelve?”

“Oh yes! Today’s my birthday.” They stopped. “Are we there now?”

“Yes. You may open your eyes. “She did. They were under the branches of a huge tree set atop a magnificent hill. The leaves were mostly orange. It was autumn.

Lily was in awe. “This is beautiful. Such a good birthday present!”

“Well I don’t know if, I mean I didn’t mean for  itto-“ She kissed him on the cheek.

“You’re very strange Henry. But I like you. Promise me we can be friends?” She pouted her lip as before.

It felt as if heat had rushed to his face. “O-o-okay.”

“Delightful!” she exclaimed.

A drop of water fell and hit Lily’s foot. “It’s raining!” said Henry. “Maybe we should head back.”

“They’ve opened,” she said looking at Henry. “A blessing has been given.”

The downpour came and Lily screamed in excitement. “It’s so much! How big are Your barns!”

Henry grabbed Lily’s hand. “Come on Lily. Let’s head back.” Henry lost his footing and slid down the hill, pulling Lily with him. Lily laughed innocently while Henry tried to maintain composure.
            “Again! May we go again?”

Henry looked at Lily and smiled. “Al-alright” They raced back up the hill, this time Lily leading the way. They slid and slid and slid until their clothes were grass stained and covered in mud. The rain slowed and they laid at the top of the hill, soaking wet in the soaking wet grass.

“Aren’t the clouds beautiful?” Lily Said.

“Well, they’re gray.”

“Grey isn’t beautiful?”

I don’t think it’s supposed to be.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. Colors like blue and yellow and orange are supposed to be beautiful.”

“Every color is beautiful. That’s why they are colors. They bring life. Even the grey clouds bring rain.”

“What a strange thought.”

“I suppose I could say the same of you.” For a while they lay there and said nothing. Lilly sneezed and began sniffling.

“I think you’ve got a bit of a cold.”

“No, it’s warm out.”

“I mean you’re sick.

“Oh. Yes. I believe you are right.”

“Ready to head back?”

She sighed, “I suppose.” They lay there for a bit longer. “Alright,” she said. “Let’s go back home.” She smiled and thought about those words. “Yes, we are going home.” They walked back in silence, a comfortable silence. As they walked in the large house, the four parents were sitting in the living room.

“Lily!” Mary exclaimed. “You’re filthy.” Well it isn’t so surprising, she thought. ”Oh Lily…”

“Sorry Mum,” she said with a downcast countenance.

“No. No. It’s okay. I am not upset.” Lily looked up and smiled.

“Oh that smile… well, go get yourself clean. Dinner is almost ready.”

“Okay mum.” Lily clasped her hands together and looked toward Henry who wasn’t sure what to do or where to plant his eyes. She leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. “Thank you Henry,” she said with a smile. After that she left and walked upstairs. The remaining four smiled and fixed their combined gaze upon the bewildered Henry, who wasn’t sure what to do with the attention.

He simply asked, “What?” and smiled involuntarily to which they all laughed.

“Mum! Where is my room?”

“Third floor dear,” said Mary.

“Thank you!”

“Henry you ought to clean yourself up too,” said Juniper

“”Right mum.” And with that, Henry and Lily had met on such a similar day, a day that Aila knew well as Lily had told her many times.

Chapter 3: And my daughters will know they are lovely.

Before Aila had known it, she was no longer staring gloomily at the giant grey mass hovering above here town but was now at her desk looking at a half-page of notes about the history of some southern country or other. She had no memory of anything that happened between the window and the half a page of notes. The only thing that she did remember was the “O+A” at the type right-hand corner of the page she wrote the day before.

What sucks is that Aila know it is a stupid crush and that he is older and in a grad above hers. But she also know that the way he yawns is adorable and always ends with a tiny a squeak, that in his skinny jeans, you can see the outline of his butt, that he has a mesmerizing voice when he sings like so many of her favorite lead singers. Yes, he thinks burping is funny and does not particularly like frogs (she once eavesdropped on a conversation about dissections), but he’s growing a mustache!

She knows that beyond his butt, mustache and the way his muscles flex when he pretends to play drums with pens, there isn’t much connecting them romantically.

She had already talked about this with Henry (to his great distress) in full length and detail, butts and all. “Why did you like mommy so much? When did you know that you wanted to be with her?”

“Well,” he said. “When I first saw her, I didn’t really know what to think of her. I never really saw someone was really beautiful like that to me. I was 12 at the time as well so I can’t say that I had much experience noticing girls at that point.”

“You didn’t find granny or any of our cousins pretty?”

“Well, of course! But they were all relatives. It’s different when it’s someone outside of your family.”

“Yeah,” said Aila. “I think your really handsome but not in the same way that I like Oskar.” Henry enjoyed those words as much as they pained him. “Is that when you know?”

“Well that’s definitely when I knew l liked her. But it wasn’t until we spent our first winter together that I knew I wanted to be with her.”

“Were you in love with her by then?”
“I don’t think I knew I was at the time but looking back now, I know that I was.”

“Oh.” She looked up at him and then back down. Up again. Then down. A third time.

“Yes my beautiful girl? What is it?”

“Nothing. I just wanted to hear you say that. And I’m not in love with Oskar (dadthought: OHTHANKGOD). I just really like his face and butt.”

“A face and but are not enough to make a good relationship.”

“But they help right?”

“Yes, they certainly do.” They both laughed.

“Aila!” exclaimed the teacher.

“Yes. Um, hullo,” she said confusedly.

“Will you be joining us now?”

“Yes, Mrs. Crabtree.”

“Would you mind answering the question then?”

“Yes, but, I’m sorry. I didn’t hear the question.” It was repeated. She answered it correctly.

“Very good,” said the teacher. “Do try to pay more attention, okay?”

“Yes Mrs. Crabtree.” Aila did not enjoy being the center of attention regardless of whether the situation was good or bad. But it was these moments that Aila became teary-eyed and sad, multiplying whatever wrong she did no matter how minute inside her head.

Once would correctly guess that from infancy, she was prone to much crying, juxtaposed to her stoic and sometimes off-putting black-clad, barefooted attire and expression that looked similar to a tired Victorian portrait.

But she had sensitivity not due to emotional immaturity (but surely manipulated by it) but due to a natural disposition to feel more than others do. But still there were words like “crybaby” and phrases such as “grow thick skin.” And to a certain extent this is certainly true. But how quickly things go past extents.

So Aila put her head back down struggling to fight back tears and knowing that no one was really paying any concern but feeling as though the world could hear her thoughts. As much as she desired to look out the window and become lost, she sat there copying notes.