A Boy's Castle

Once upon a time, there was a little boy, born to a family of cloud sprites. He and his family lived on a soft cloud, the color of sweet cotton. They had a house built into the cloud, all of their furniture was made of the cloud, and even all of the boy's toys were made of the cloud. The boy and his family had many, many happy years on the cloud.

One day, however, when the boy felt he was no longer a boy but a man, the boy decided it was time to set out on his own. So he packed up his belongings and flew away to find a cloud of his own.

The first cloud he found was wide and flat. Perfect, he thought, for running around all day. But when he landed on it and began running around, he found himself falling through the cloud. He tried to grasp a hold of the cloud and pull himself up. But each handful came as nothing but air, and he quickly sank through the cloud.

Confused, the boy flew to the cloud where his family lived without him. Why, he asked, can I not stay on the wide, flat cloud? His answer was that cloud sprites can only live on round, fluffy clouds, good for jumping.

Having learned this lesson the boy set again to find a cloud of his own. The next cloud he came across was large, round and fluffy. He especially liked that instead of being white, like his family's cloud, it was many different shades of black and gray. He flew down and landed on the black, gray cloud. The cloud was very soft, but the boy felt very cold. He made a blanket with bits of black and gray, but it didn't help much. Deciding to ignore the cold, the boy began to fall asleep.

He had just fallen into a deep, blissful sleep when growing warmth awaked him. His once cold cloud was becoming a very warm cloud. It was becoming a very, very hot cloud! All of a sudden his cloud began to light up, from the inside, and flicker. Soon it became almost too hot for the boy to touch. The boy became very frightened, and quickly flew away, back to his family's cloud.

His family welcomed him back with warm smiles and hugs. The boy was happy to be back somewhere familiar and safe. He decided to never try to leave again.

That night, at dinner, the boy began eating his supper, made from cloud. But every bite felt like broken glass in his mouth, and no matter how hungry he was, he could not bring himself to swallow it. Tears streaming down his cheeks, he asked his family why they would feed him such a dish. His family shook their heads sadly; they had not given him a dish meant to hurt him. It was a sign that he could not stay on this cloud forever. He had outgrown it, and must find a cloud of his own.

Sad and dejected, the boy, once more, flew away from his family's cloud.

The boy flew and flew. When he was too tired to fly any more he came upon a new cloud. It was small, but round, fluffy and a nice sugar white. He landed on the cloud. While it wasn't as comfortable as his family's cloud, it was still a soft place for him to stay the night. The boy still missed his family very much and cried himself to sleep.

When he awoke, he saw another cloud sprite hovering above him. Why are you crying, it asked. The boy responded, I miss my family and I have no place to live. You can live here, the other cloud sprite offered, with me.

And so the boy did, playing and laughing with his new friend. While he was never as happy as he was before he left, he had a joyous life. And of course, he lived happily ever after.