The Green Planet

Chapter 5

The wind whistled in Cece's ears. It raged and battled against her every move as she walked toward the bedroom. Overhead, a bright white light flashed against the sky, closely followed by an angry thunder. Rain seemed to make a veil over their tree house. Cece could hardly see beyond the banisters that surrounded the tree house.

When she finally made it to the bedroom, Stella, Leslie, and Clifton looked up at her. Stella and Leslie had frightened looks upon their faces and Clifton looked uneasy. Clifton patted his pillow on the floor and laid his head down. Stella and Leslie covered up in their blankets on their beds as all four of them paused and listened to the ruckus the rain was making. Cece made her way to her own bed on the opposite side of the room and covered herself up. Cooper followed closely behind her and once she was comfortable, he trotted up to where her head lay. He whined and gave her the saddest look Cece had ever seen. She sighed and patted the empty part of the blanket next to her. He immediately jumped up and cuddled as close as he could to her.
She saw Stella move and lean over toward Clifton to say something. "I'm scared. Is the storm angry at us like the plants?" Cece could vaguely hear over the rain. Stella's bed was in the middle and Leslie was closest to the door. Cece was on the very far wall on the opposite side of Stella. Clifton laid in between Stella and Leslie with a blanket and a single pillow. "Of course the storm isn't mad at us. It's just having a party. The lightning are the lights, the thunder is the music and the rain is the confetti. It's very exclusive though so we aren't invited. Only the wind and the clouds are allowed to be there. Very snooty things if you ask me so we don't need to be there anyway." Clifton said. Cece smiled as she imagined the picture Clifton had painted in her mind.
"The storm has bad taste in music," Stella muttered as she yawned.

Clifton chuckled, "Yeah but they could say the same thing about our music if they wanted to." Another bolt of lightning streaked across the sky. More thunder echoed off the trees. The constant sound of the rain made Cece tired and in an instant she fell asleep.

The sun rose to a beautiful scene sprawled on the ground below. Cece awoke and went to the banister. The trees had drops of water fall to the ground below. Animals below scurried through the forest once more. She took a deep breath and the smell of fresh fallen rain filled her nose. A smile spread across her face. The sun reflected off the wet leaves and made it look like the leaves were liquid and when a slight breeze filled the branches, the leaves looked as if they were flowing.
Cece looked over at the beds and noticed that Clifton was gone. Her sisters were still sound asleep. She walked into the living room and saw him on the floor drinking from a cup. Steam rose out and into the morning air. "Sorry, I hope you don't mind, I made a fresh pot of coffee using that stove fire thing you built in there," Clifton said. An image of the stove she built filled her mind. It had a glass top and underneath, a tiny space for kindling. When lit, the fire would warm the glass top. It was one of her better inventions. Cece wasn't really a coffee person but she grabbed some from the general store just in case she was ever in the mood for it.
She settled down next to him and said "I don't care. I heard what you told Stella last night." Cece smiled. Clifton chuckled and took another drink of his coffee. "Yeah my mother told me that when I was a bit younger. I used to be afraid of storms too. Wimpish, I know but there's something about them," He shrugged. "Anyway, I thought it might make the storm sound fun instead of scary but without encouraging her to go out into a storm you know?"

"Yeah. You've never talked about your family before." Cece said cautiously. Clifton looked thoughtful for a second and said "Well I suppose I could start now. My mom was the best. She didn't work so she would make us breakfast every year on the first day of school. And she would never yell at us for anything, if anything she probably spoiled us." He stopped and smiled. "My dad was the complete opposite. He was always really strict about everything. Always wanted me to do sports and all that. If you stepped out of line once, he'd make sure you wouldn't want to do it ever again." He paused again.