I watched as snowflakes floated gracefully to the ground. One small, delicate flake landed on the sleeve of my jacket. It was the shape of a maple leaf, a symmetrical semi circle with twisting, entwined veins. The center of the crystal looked like a firework just starting to explode in the air. Each branch of the snowflake was a lacy stratus cloud stretching across the black plane of my winter coat.

Just as the snowflake began to melt, a smaller crystal landed on my glove. This snowflake had six identical bell-shaped petals that each had their own set of dragonfly wings which seemed to flap up and down in syncrinization. The snowflake had a slightly golden tint to it which seemed to eminate a rosy halo that shimmered half a millimeter above the actual crystal. The center of the snowflake looked like a three dimensional star that had a miniature, complex rose nestled in its center. As I focused on the rose, I the sudden urge to taste it. The moment I felt the crystal melt on my tongue, a rainbow of colors flashed across my vision before everything went blank.

When I was able to see again, I found myself standing in a canyon on a cloud. White, puffy, rolling hills surrounded me. In front and behind me were steep, uneven walls made out of looming gray storm clouds where crooked lightening flashed blindingly every few seconds. To my right was a small twisting fountain etched into pinkish orange stratus clouds. A small stream of silver water flowed up from the base of the fountain and lept out of a small octagonal opening. Where the silver drops of water splashed quietly once again at the base of the fountain, 13 small, lush flowers grew. Each was a different color and texture.

I walked towards the fountain and crouched down to have a closer look at the flowers. A lime green one with tangerine stripes caught my attention. I stroaked its petals and found that they were as soft as a one week old bunny rabbit’s fur. As soon as my finger tips left the flower, a spherical bud fell off from the stem. I picked it up and popped it into my mouth. It had the most extraordinary flavor of a crisp, sour apple and a juicy
orange. The flavors seemed to dance on my tongue causing a tingling sensation all through out my body.

Once the flavor died away, I stroaked a different flower. This one was light pink with dark purple speckles and felt like a rushing stream under my finger tips. Again, a small bud fell off the stem of the flower and I laid it on my tongue. The bud melted into my taste buds with a swirl of pomagranite and grapefruit. These flavors gave me the sensation of diving into a cool, clear pond on a hot summer day.

Trying these buds made me wonder what type of miracle water could produce such different, unknown flowers. As I stood up, I scooped up a handful of sugary clouds. The clouds turned into a perl white goblet. I held the goblet under the fountain until it was filled with the silver water and then I drank it. I drank it with such enthusiasm that immediately I wanted more but the fountain had run dry. I searched frantically for any source of the silver water. I found none so instead, I picked a whole flower from the ground and the snowflake that had brought me to this magical place appeared in front of me and a blinding flash of fiery light rose from its center.

When the fire was gone, I found myself back in the real world with snowflakes falling all around me. But what happened to the cloud world? I thought. It must have just been a dream. However, when I looked down, I was still holding the magical flower grown from silver water and in my pocket I found the mysterious snowflake that had taken me to the world above the clouds.