Clouds

There’s a cloud that looms over his head. Not a cloud that rains or snows. Not a cloud that thunders or causes lightening. Just a cloud that casts dark shadows across his face, a cloud that doesn’t let the sunshine warm his skin and make him feel happy.

The cloud follows him everywhere he goes. Down the street to the corner store. To work to sit at his desk and make his job harder. To the gym where it makes him just want to be thinner, maybe that would help him be happy. The cloud never goes. And neither does the sadness that follows with it.

The happiness continues to happen around him even though he doesn’t feel any. The cloud prevents it from happening for him. Certain things make the cloud grow darker and gloomier, and some things make it loosen up and let a silver lining float in. But most days, it’s dark underneath the formation he has hovering above him.

One day, walking down to the store, he crossed paths with another cloud-person pair. A woman, with a dark cloud hanging low above her head. She looked just about the way he felt, down and out. He stopped at the corner while waiting for the crossing signal. She stood on the other side, waiting for the same thing. He cocked his head, the cloud following the way his neck turned. The woman was beautiful, even though she looked sad. She looked around at all the buildings above them, and then back at the crossing signal. Then she looked at him.

She cocked her head, her cloud following it. The signal shone bright with the little figure of a man, and they both began to cross the street. Reaching the center of the busy road, they met face to face. They blinked at each other a few times. They both stared blankly at the clouds above one another’s heads. They stood there, staring, as the light turned green for the cars to go. Horns were honked obnoxiously as the two came back down from their amazement. They both scurried to one side of the street.

They introduced themselves and walked towards the corner store, where the man had been heading in the first place. They sat down on the bench outside of it and talked for hours. Talked about their past. Talked about what they were doing now. Talked about what they wanted for the future. This was one of the lightest days they’ve felt in a while, they told each other. They never knew the clouds happened to other people. They were so glad they weren’t completely alone any more.

Slowly, they became friends, and then a couple. Slowly, the clouds lessened and lessened. Slowly, they felt the sunlight warm their skin. And slowly, they felt the sunlight warm their hearts.