Hourglass

☁️Cloud Hopping☁️

As I've discovered, there's nothing more chill than the sky.

I'm lying on the ground in the National Park, on my back, staring at the clouds floating above me on a backdrop of perfect blue sky. They seem to have a mind of their own, floating and swaying in the breeze. If they were people, they'd easily take the prize for the happiest people in the world. But really, they're just wisps of rain yet to fall.

I can't help but compare the clouds to my old friends, Tatyana and James. Like these clouds, Tatyana seemed so nice on the outside - a pretty girl with a sunny disposition - but the more time I spent with her, the heavier and darker her personality became, the more she revealed about her true self, until it all came pouring into plain sight. The white, fluffy facade of the cloud had fallen, revealing the storm cloud underneath. She rained her bad temper and horrible behaviour all over me until I couldn't take it anymore. Same thing happened with James, who was mean at the start, then manipulated me and Anya until we were both at breaking point.

Friends are like rain. Sometimes, if you've had a friendship drought and your hope is dying like your garden, you're glad for rain to come along and make everything soft and dewy again. But if everything's sunshine and rainbows for you, and a friend invites themself into your life thinking they'll make things even better, most of the time you're stuck inside as you watch the rain fall, drenching everything you've worked so hard for.

I breathe out slowly, only aware of the light pitter-patter of rain coating my face and body. The clouds have turned darker, and the sun has disappeared behind a cloud shaped like a person in a little dress. I'm good at finding meaning in tiny little things, like a bug crawling up my windowsill on a never-ending slog up the side of my house, or a reflection in a lost bird's eyes. Most adults can't see what I see. They simply care about money, and cars, and jobs, y'know. Superficial things like that. I reckon everyone needs to learn to look beneath the surface, to enjoy the little things, to find meaning in every bit of life they see.

A crack of lightning erupts across the sky.

That causes me to come to my senses. The rain becomes heavier, and thunder booms, filling the park.

I lie there, moss for a pillow, and my eyes flutter closed.

***

"Is she going to be ok?" Mum's voice echoes.

"She's deteriorating quickly," says Dr Short.

I try to scream, but I remember I'm in a coma. Luckily I can't feel pain now.