The Day the Clouds Touched the Earth

The clock struck two as the fog began to roll in…

Lexi and Clive were tucked soundly into their beds and fast asleep while the world outside became covered by the thick blanket of creeping clouds. It was a quiet Friday night and Lexi, 12 and Clive, 8 went to bed with anxious thoughts of the coming weekend on their minds. They happily knew they would awake to a day without school or homework, but they were not prepared for the wonders the fog would bring to their otherwise normal Saturday.

The next morning, Lexi and Clive were awakened not by the usual sun shining through their bedroom windows, but by their mother calling their names. “Breakfast is ready when you are!” she yelled upstairs, jostling them from their light sleep. Once awake enough to think, Lexi wondered why there was no light coming into the bedroom, despite the weather report calling for a sunny day. She slowly got up out of bed and went to the window to look outside. It was like looking at a whitewashed wall, Lexi could see no evidence of the sun or the ground below. Clive noticed Lexi staring out the window and got up to go see what he was missing. As he could see nothing but white, he asked his big sister why the sun wasn’t in the sky. She could not answer that question alone, but she assured Clive everything was all right and that they would still have a fun-filled Saturday. They both dressed and went downstairs to eat the breakfast lovingly cooked by their mother.

After polishing off the meal, Lexi asked her mother if her and Clive could go outside and play, despite the lack of sunshine. With approval from mom, the children prepared to go out to the backyard. Before heading out, Lexi grabbed a flashlight so that they could try to find a path through the deep, thick fog. Despite the sun being absent, it was still warm outside, a perfect day for a bit of play. Once in the backyard, Lexi urged Clive to stay close by because she did not want him getting lost and becoming near impossible to see in the fog bank. He happily obliged and they both scanned the area trying to see if they could see anything without the aid of the beam from the flashlight. Both children knew the lay of their backyard well, they knew about how big it was and that it backed up against a forest. Even with this knowledge, they instinctively looked around and eventually Clive was able to see the faint glow coming from their neighbor’s deck light. The light was the only object either of the children could positively identify through the fog and its aura helped them orient themselves to be facing the forest behind their house. With a better sense of their current position, Lexi asked Clive if he wanted to go exploring in the forest, and he excitedly said yes.

With the flashlight on and in her left hand, Lexi held onto Clive with her right as she led him into the forest through the blinding fog. With every couple of steps, Lexi swept the light in an arc to cut through the cloud cover to make sure the next steps were safe to take. Although the forest bordered the backyard they had played in many times in their lives, neither Lexi nor Clive had ever been into the woods before. Because they were exploring an unknown territory, Lexi wanted to ensure that both she and her brother stayed safe and would return home in one piece. She cautiously wandered further into the forest, stopping occasionally to look up at the sky, only to see nothing but the light gray and white layer of clouds. With Clive in tow, Lexi continued to press forward through the trees and the wall of oppressing fog.

Feeling as though they had walked for a good length of time, Lexi and Clive stopped moving and stood in silence letting the clouds close in on them. Lexi began to sweep the light around in a wide circle, when the light suddenly reflected off something that wasn’t just another tree trunk. Upon noticing the odd reflection, Lexi held the flashlight steady and aimed the beam at the illuminated object. It was not the trunk of a tall tree like the rest of the woods around the area, but rather a stump. The curiously located stump sat alone, surrounded by its tall and full brethren. With the flashlight focused on the stump, Lexi inched closer to examine it more closely. Clive let go of his sister’s hand and went to the opposite side of the stump to face his big sister. Lexi slowly moved the light all around the surface and sides of the stump, looking for any odd features or insects. At first glance, everything about the stump looked ordinary and there were no bugs crawling on it that the children could see. Clive remained still while Lexi scanned the immediate area with the flashlight again, checking for any other stumps or rocks in the area. She found none and shone the light back on the stump before them.

Both children stood examining the stump in the light with the fog all around and after a few minutes, Lexi caught something glimmering out of the corner of her eye. She focused her attention on the shining object and bent her head down to get closer to the source of the reflection. The new object was resting on the stump, yet the reflected light it gave off was slowly pulsing. Clive joined Lexi in looking down at the top of the stump and the twinkling light upon it. Lexi shifted herself to look even closer at the newly discovered object and she saw that the object was indeed moving!

Without warning, the twinkling object rose from the stump’s surface and hovered in the cloudy air. Both children were amazed that the object was now just floating there, right in front of their eyes! Lexi could tell that the mysterious object was not a flying insect that had just taken off from a rest. Upon an even closer inspection, Lexi saw wings that were beating quite fast and shaped like butterfly wings, but the winged object was definitely not a butterfly, at least not any type of butterfly either of the children had ever encountered. Lexi’s keen eyes noticed that the wings were attached to a small body that was shaped like that of a human. Lexi then looked at Clive and asked him if the object in front of them was a faery, just like the ones that were the focus of the stories they both heard growing up. Clive responded that he wished it was, but he had to get a closer look first. Clive looked even harder at the tiny object and then looked up at his sister with a shocked expression on his face. Lexi took Clive’s reaction as a sign that they had indeed found a fae of the forest.

The faery was still hovering above the stump and she had taken notice of the light from the flashlight and the two humans looking down at her. It was rare that the beings of the forest saw humans and she desired nothing more than to communicate with her newfound mortal friends. She called to them and attempted to introduce herself. Clive heard the new noise in the otherwise silent forest right away and he focused his attention to its source. Lexi followed suit and they listened intently to the squeaky voice coming from the tiny mouth in front of them. Being children, they were able to understand what the floating figure was saying as she excitedly told them she meant no harm and was happy to meet them. Clive replied, asking if she could understand what he was saying as well. After a brief pause, the faery confirmed she could understand them by asking for their names. Lexi introduced both her and brother to their new fae friend.

As the conversation went on, the faery told the children the story of her kind and their duties as guardians of the forest and protectors of humans living near the woods. She continued to explain to the children that under normal weather conditions, fae cannot been seen or heard by the humans they watch over. The presence of a thick cloud cover on the ground allows the fae to reveal themselves to whoever may happen to find their home in the foggy landscape. Because extremely foggy days are rare in this region, the faery said, it is very rare that the resident fae get to meet with humans. The faery closed the conversation by saying that she enjoyed being able to finally share her story with some human friends and that she and the rest of the fae in that forest would always be watching over Lexi, Clive, and all the other children in the area. She thanked the children for finding her home and then flew away into the fog bank. Lexi and Clive looked at each other as if neither knew what they had just experienced. Lexi grabbed Clive’s hand and she shone the flashlight away from the stump. They walked back towards their house through the lingering layer of clouds, following the path that initially led them to the mystical stump in the middle of the forest. Lexi soon found an exit close to where they entered the woods from their backyard earlier that day.

Lexi knew they had reached their backyard at last when she saw the faint glow of the neighbor’s porch light in the distance. Lexi and Clive quickly went inside the house once they realized they were back in the yard. Both children were quite exhausted from exploring the forest and their encounter with the magical being who resided there. Later that night, they ate the dinner mother had prepared and got ready for bed. As they climbed in to sleep, their minds were heavy with both the thoughts of their extraordinary Saturday and the excitement of a fun Sunday. Lexi and Clive looked at each other before falling asleep with big smiles on their faces; neither child could still believe that the meeting in the forest was real. With vivid memories of the faery still in their minds, the children slept soundly through the night.

The next morning, Lexi and Clive were awakened by the bright sun shining through the bedroom windows. They both went to the window only to see that all the fog was gone and that the clouds had returned to their rightful places high in the sky. They ate breakfast as usual and then went outside to the backyard. Lexi and Clive both stood in the yard facing the woods where they had the fated encounter with one of the fae of the forest. Even though Lexi and Clive still had minor doubts about their experience that Saturday, they both would never forget the day the clouds touched the Earth.


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