I climbed to the
top of lighthouse, stood perilously on the protective railing and shook my fist
at the approaching storm. I shouted her name three times at the top of my
voice. Once in frustration, once in
painful longing and once just to hear myself scream.
A passing cloud
stopped for a moment and called me a ninny and encouraged me to jump.
“After all,” it
breezed, “a man in your condition has no right being a man at all.”
I sneered at the
cloud and asked why he should know. He was, after all, a cloud and had no
experience with matters of the heart. I spit to the jagged rocks below.
“I have no
control over my own path,” said the cloud, much less the path of another cloud.
To think that I do, would simply be rubbish.”
The cloud puffed,
blowing me off my balance. At first I
resisted and then, figuring the cloud was right, I held out my arms and leapt
from the railing.
As I fell, the
clouds parted and the suns rays shown strongly on the rocks below, creating the
most beautiful haloed images and shadow.
I started to cry. Just before I
met my fate on the sharp and fragmented rocks below, the suns rays caught me
and cradled me in their warmth, slowing my decent and placing me on flat patch
of stone, the water lapping at my feet in relief.
I stared at the
sun and thanked her profusely, “what might I do to repay my debt of
gratitude?”
The sun winked at
me and said, “Quit being a ninny, and never, ever listen to a cloud.
hah! joke's on you. no cloudbusting!
ReplyDeleteThis reads like a fable or parable, and certainly a lesson to be learnt here. I liked the humanity of these lines: 'Once in frustration, once in painful longing and once just to hear myself scream.' And this may well be the essential truth so many spend a lifetime searching for: “I have no control over my own path,” said the cloud, much less the path of another cloud. To think that I do, would simply be rubbish.”
ReplyDeleteThis part struck me the most:
ReplyDelete“I have no control over my own path,” said the cloud, much less the path of another cloud. To think that I do, would simply be rubbish.”
Isn't it the most sensible thing, yet it takes a lifetime to learn ~ Love this Corey ~
I really enjoyed this one!
ReplyDeleteWhat a fascinating piece! So enjoyed reading it.
ReplyDeleteI love this fable. Glad he got rescued just in time.
ReplyDeletedidn't know if I should cry or laugh... fun and emotional all at once!
ReplyDeleteThis is classic, Corey! Such a lesson to be learned, such a rescue to receive, unearned!
ReplyDeleteK
Corey, this reads like a parable, a cautionary tale, and a joke (dark humor) all at once. Such fatalism, and yet there's always room for a punchline, even while dying. Reminds me of my mom, who got off some of her best lines the day before she passed in 1992... "This, too, will pass... like a kidney stone!" Great stuff. Amy
ReplyDeleteLoved this story of a cloud with a silver lining :)
ReplyDeleteVery Jim Morrisonesque. :) loved it...
ReplyDeletethe power of a happy ending, one of the few things that transcend time.
ReplyDeletei would have liked to see you as the sun's butler, however:)
Ha! Very clever! k.
ReplyDeleteI. So. Love. This!
ReplyDeleteSly. The cloud says something wise: “I have no control over my own path,” said the cloud, much less the path of another cloud. To think that I do, would simply be rubbish.”
ReplyDeleteBut it's the sun who saves you: "and never, ever listen to a cloud."
~ M