Dead Clouds

Chapter 2 (2/2): Unexpected Forecast

Radius studied the floating guy with disbelieving eyes. His fingers burned each time he pulled a book out of his backpack. Lies. Every chapter. Every sentence. Every word. Lies.

Years of scrupulous research and pages upon pages of articles reduced to ash. Everything he knew about the world was in question. He felt like the truth laughed in his face the moment he saw Gold on that park bench.

He glared as the guy smiled while stupidly floating around the small office space. A window washed the small room in sunlight brightening the wooden desk in the center of the room. The space was immaculate. Even the trash can lacked trash.

"This is a sweet place you got here!" said Gold eyeing every inch of the room, "I didn't even know Nube City had a library!"

A vein bulged on the side of Radius' forehead.

"You got your own private room too? How'd you pull that off?"

Radius sighed before dumping the last of ten books onto the desk. The sunlight illuminated the titles on their hard covers. He frequented the library after school because it gave him a quiet place to conduct his research. His grandparents had retired years ago, and so one of them was always home. They routinely knocked on his door interrupting his studies. They either wanted to watch television with him or they wanted him to play soccer with James.

The library offered him respite from his grandparents because they provided private study rooms to premium members. He requested a room on the second floor and successfully secluded himself from the world. The key to the room jingled in his pocket as he sat down at the desk.

He remembered the events from the previous night vividly. The guy in front of him was stabbed in an alley and was left in a puddle of his own blood. Squeezing his teeth together, he searched his mind for a logical explanation.

The guy in front of him should have died. He should have become a cumulus cloud. So, why was he here?

"How did you do it?" asked Radius, "How did you get those people to walk through you?"

Gold sat on the edge of the desk, "You don't think this is a prank, do you? I'm not sure what's happened to me. I woke up in an alley this morning, and people just started acting like I wasn't there. Like, I was a ghost."

"Don't say such foolish things," said Radius under his breath, "Ghosts are the products of fiction. Science has confirmed that when people die, two events occur. One, people transform into clouds and float into the sky. Two, people fade into the ground and are never seen again."

"Well maybe the science is wrong," said Gold, "All I know is that everyone in this city treats me like I'm not there... except for you. That has to mean something."

"The science is never wrong," said Radius, "Only misunderstood."

The defeat in his tone as he uttered those words chipped at his mountain of confidence. Was it possible that the popular ideas about death were erroneous the entire time? Were there more than two destinations for a person after death?

All of his research involved augmenting to or proposing theories about the cloudification process. Scholars were still in the dark when it came to understanding how people became certain clouds after death. The new phenomenon in front of him could undo years of research. It could banish certain books and theories from serious discussion. It could invalidate the work that brought him so much prestige.

"Honestly, I'm just happy there's someone I can talk to again," said Gold smiling, "By the way, what's your name?"

His statement reminded Radius of the previous night. Everyone in the convenience store heard Gold announce his name. That's why he knew his name, but Gold didn't know his. Cutting his eyes, it became apparent that the guy hadn't noticed him in the convenience store that night. He nodded affirming his conclusion.