High above the sky, a little white dome-shaped cloud with a horizontal base began to stalk about in an ungainly fashion. It skirted to and fro, disregarding other billowing masses of white tufts and towers. Intoxicated by wind and freedom, the little white cloud traversed playfully among feather white plumes of other clouds, careening about like a ball of fluff.
Attracted by a dark panel hovering a few feet below the horizon, it descended slowly into the thick cloud of black smoke until it disappeared , enveloped by darkness.
"Cough! Cough! Cough! ...Gasp" , it complained , suffocated by the black smoke it encountered.
" I can't breathe...gasp, the smog here is terrible! "
The little white cloud tried to wiggle itself from the impending danger. Only after descending a few feet more did it finally succeed in freeing itself . Exhausted , it touched the ground of Mother Earth and rested.
"Cough, cough...that was close . I almost gagged to death ," The little white cloud tried to ascend to the sky where it belonged but it was a futile attempt for there was no wind strong enough to buoy it up. The Cloud looked around and saw that it had landed near a dry ricefield.
The area was barren, the soil lay like a dry cracked mud bed.Even the air was heavy with fumes spewed by an industrial plant situated near the field.
Seeking refuge from the fumes belched by the industrial plants , the Little White Cloud glided towards a thicket of tall gangly mango trees clumped together.
The Little White cloud noticed that even this area was not spared by the black fumes emanating from the factories. It was devoid of birds making music, insects nodding upon their perches, and crickets grinding their teeth. Only the sound of a boy muttering obscene expletives broke the silence of the woods.
Behind a tree sat a boy, deeply bronzed, dressed in muddy t-shirt and patched up maong pants . He was barefoot , although a pair of rubber shoes and an improvised fishing rod lay nearby.
"Why are you so angry, little boy ?" asked the Cloud curiously.
Startled, the boy simply stared, stunned by the image rather than the reality.
"Don't be afraid, " the Little White Cloud announced gently, "won't you speak to me?"
The boy struggled inside. "Are you real?"
'How can you talk, you're just a cloud?!!"
"Real isn't how you are made or what you are made of. It's a thing that happens to you.Real is when you realize that there is more to life than just hanging in the sky."
The boys' face broke into a relieved smile. "I think I like you!"
The boy got up and walked towards a stream. The water was murky. Garbages, empty soda pop bottles, plastics and human waste bobbed up and down.Pointing to the stream , the boy said "there used to be a lot of fish here...but now they're all gone!"
"Is that why you're so angry?" asked the Little White Cloud.
"Yes, because of all this waste I can't swim or fish here anymore!" the boy whined.
"You're not the only one complaining . This ecological destruction is borne more by nature than by man. Fish complain because of the chemical wastes indiscriminately thrown into the seas and waters; birds choke on smog whenever they sing; trees refuse to bear fruits because the soil has become barren from overuse. Unless man learns to coexist with nature and make honest reparations for the damage already done, the world will not last very long." said the Little White Cloud.
"But I don't understand ... my father, who works in one of those industrial plants , say that that is the price of progress. We just have to live with it." answered the boy.
"The problem with man is that he is too busy getting rich, he doesn't stop to worry about where he is really going", the Little White Cloud opined. "If in the name of progress man will eventually destroy his surroundings, his very environment, then in the name of survival , nature must and will eventually turn against him."
A deafening silence ensued.
Finally, the boy spoke. "Well, at least I had no part in messing up this world. It's the grown-ups that did us in. Boy, am I sorry for our generation and those that will follow us."
"Feeling sorry for yourself and for others won't change anything. What are you going to do about the problem of pollution, sit on it ? the Little White Cloud asked.
"Me? You're asking me? I'm not to blame for turning this world upside down. It's not my responsibility, why ask me?"
"Because... (the Little White Cloud held the boys gaze into his eyes) it's your generation that will bear the brunt of mans' folly. Because if you keep pointing the blame on others and not do a thing, it might be too late, and Mother nature will have no choice but to avenge the rape that has been done to her in the name of progress."
"But what can I do, I'm just a boy , I can't move mountains?"
"Nobody is asking you" ...the Little White Cloud answered. "If you care enough, you will know what to do. It will come to you. The earth belongs to everyone. It is not the exclusive domain of man .
It is yours, little boy, as well as mine. It is there to be enjoyed and cared for by everyone."
The boy smiled : "you're a pretty good teacher for a cloud!"
"If you don't watch out , you might learn something!" The Little White Cloud laughed.
A gust of wind blew over their direction. "ooops, I feel a breeze coming.I've got to go, I 've a wind to catch!" the Cloud said. "Remeber what I told you: 'Real is when you realize that there is more to life than just hanging around in the sky. It begins when you start to care for others, " he added.
"Good-bye little boy! "
"No , wait ...don't go yet ! Wait..."
Too late, for the Little White Cloud was already airborne .
The boy remained gazing into the sky, in an almost animated trance. He stood in place for half an hour, maybe more. The spell was finally broken when he felt a slight drizzle fall from the sky. It had come so softly, so gently that he felt that it was the tears shed by his friend , the Little White Cloud, to wash away the dirt, muck and grime of the world.
The boy looked up to the sky for the last time then headed home. He had learned a vluable lesson this day. There was much to be done. And all because a little white cloud had cried.
