Cloudchild

Shattered crystals thundered throughout an abyss. The echoing chimes gradually diminished. A choir of exhales reverberated, slowly replaced with soft breaths.

I breathe. I am alive. Is this me?

The tiny being’s thoughts went unanswered. It extended itself but neither saw nor touched anything—only coldness pierced its bodiless existence.I know I’m here, but...where is here?

Imagination and thoughts swirled, forming a limitless maze of glowing clouds streaked with roseate hues.

Look up, Inanna.

Far above the hills of clouds was the night sky. A vast black veil bespeckled with twinkling stars, swirling planets, and faraway galaxies.

Behind the cosmos shone a lustrous moon so immense it took up half the space of the sky, casting silvery illumination. Two smaller moons flanked the monumental one, horizon touched by their rims.

The galaxies and constellations floated over the lunar faces, seemingly guided by craters and cracks.

I do not remember what was before... Can I imagine what once was? Before...

Perception of the sky and its beauties darkened. The tiny being sank into the dimness, embraced by moisture.

My slumber into this glitter abyss?

My awakening from the dream clouds?

Crackles echoed. Cold air flowed. There was light with the breath of life.

Spherical eyes reflected the night sky and celestial ornaments. The red eyes with swirly yellow irises followed contrasting cracks of the oversized moon. Slitted pupils narrowed as a shooting star flashed. Slowly, inner eyelids closed diagonally, reflecting the glittering wonders up high.

Sighing, the tiny being stretched. Outer eyelids—right black, left white—closed diagonally. A big yawn revealed rows of pointy teeth. A forked tongue both long and blue flicked out then slid back in.

The tiny being sat up, outstretching her stout limbs. Eyes opened, the being looked at herself. Broad torso atop a short waist. Ivory scales dappled with black. Fingers and toes fitted with claws.

She grasped the ground. More crackling. She pulled out handfuls of the ground and looked at her palms. Misty soil emanated like moonlight. Wind carried the glowing particles from her clawed fingers. Only chunks of glassy eggshells remained, sprinkling from her clenched hands.

These are very old...

She looked closer, then around.Where’s the other half of this egg? Hm, oh well.

The tiny being leaned in her noisy seat. She slowly inhaled through circular nostrils of her flat, angular nose. She let her head fall back. Dense, black quills hung from her big cranium like hair, flanked by ears long and pointy. The prickles rested along her back like a spiny curtain.

Heavy winds blew. Her cranial prickles rustled as she peered down the foggy, glowing hill. Down below twinkled a moonlit forest of crystalline trees and tall flowers. Stalks and branches swayed, leaves and petals clinked. The misty forest floor gently radiated, and faint light shafts waved through the canopies.

What do you think, Annani?

“Beautiful!” she chortled with a sibilant voice. A cool breeze came but she did not shiver. Nearby was a small, black robe. “Need to warm up, to wake up...” Annani slowly slipped it on, oversized hood down. She yawned, looking around. “Where did I put it?”

A bowl of ice cream laid nearby. Her slitted pupils dilated over the rosy, frozen goodness. Annani was about to get herself a spoonful but paused. She lifted her bowl, aligning it for her eyes, staring at faraway rolling hills that looked like roseate clouds. Her eyes went back to the ice cream.

“Looks like the clouds... Hunh. Too bad there aren’t clouds of ice cream to eat.” Mouth full of cold dessert, she yawned. Stared at the big moon. I wonder how it’s like up there?

Her inner—then outer—eyelids closed. She imagined a ruinous, foggy world, full of broken mazes and fallen statues amidst endless stone stairs, zigzagging... Up somewhere? All the way up there?

Smiling, she imagined clouds of ice cream growing bigger and bigger.

This would be very good.

Annani almost lay back down but snapped out of her daydream. She looked into her bowl—a tiny puddle remained. Her eyes narrowed. “What!? Already gone? I didn’t even...remember eating...” Must have already eaten it. Too bad ice cream can’t last forever.

She observed the crystalline forest downhill. Blossoming buds glimmered like stars. Heavy wind returned. Branches shook, their glassy leaves clinking and chiming like an endless symphony. Annani inhaled deeply and whistled out some vibrato, attempting mimicry of forest sounds.

Only air replied.

Winged seeds and fuzzy buds showered uphill and danced around Annani. She dropped her bowl and giggled. Her little claws pawed the air—she snatched a handful of pretties. Annani checked her catch, most seeds carried away by wind.

Eyes up, another shooting star flashed across the night sky. She took a deep breath and stargazed.

If only I could hold everything and... Head tilted, eyes closed, she hugged herself and swayed. And... Hold everything...

She paused. Looked around.Is there anyone else like me?

A breeze rustled flowers.

“I guess, no? Oh. OK.”

Strange yet familiar memories came: Abyssal depths. Shattering crystals. Breathy echoes. Stone stairs amid foggy ruins... That world within herself she wanted to explore, a mystery not around her.

“I am alive, but...but why?” Her eyes fluttered.

Something under the horizon flashed, catching her attention. Beyond the forest, a walled city of white marble adorned the landscape. Deep within the city was a mountainous obsidian castle, so black it blended with the darkness of the night sky it stretched into. The citadel sat atop the skull of a great wyvern, whose colossal horns served as buttresses for the keep, waterfalls flowing out the eye sockets.

“For him...”

Bowl in her palms, Annani licked the bottom. She sniffled, put the spoon into her bowl, and stood tall and proud. “I’m gonna run down this hill!”

She did.

Plants swayed. Flowers chimed. Seeds fluttered.

Pupils narrowed, she skipped downhill. The height of her jumps increased with each step, soon higher than she was tall, her quills a rustling black mass in the wind. The higher she went, the slower she descended.

“Oh—whoa!” She toppled halfway and rolled down the rest. After the drop-off, she plummeted headfirst, puffing into the misty soil—poof!Her bowl and spoon landed nearby.

Annani popped out the ground like a cork from a bottle. ”Eeeeeee!"

She landed awkwardly, quills catastrophic. Breath regained, she sat up, an oversized flower upon her spiny head. The soil billowed off, droplets left behind. She shook the flower off, clawed her dripping quills. She threw the cranial spines over her shoulders, quills slapping against her back.

Senses regained, Annani crawled through flowers to fetch her bowl and spoon.

Hasty air flowed. Annani turned. The forest, twinkling and clinking, seemingly welcomed her curiosity. Her eyes widened. Spoon put into her mouth, she ran forth. Flowers wobbled. Pollen abounded in her wake. Annani swung her bowl to and fro, caught airborne powder. Every breath filled her nostrils, tickled her taste buds.

Annani swerved between trees until a big purple blob floated across her path. She gasped, skidding—they bounced off each other. She fell, spoon and bowl flung away.

She raised her chin. Her mouth dropped, blue tongue slipped out. Before her, floated a strange creature larger than she was, something between a jellyfish and mushroom. Purplish pulses animated the creature’s texture. While wind blew him onward, his many tendrils snagged flowers and low branches.

Annani’s inner eyelids closed as she gazed at the strange creature. She turned as the flying jelly floated along. She sucked her pollinated tongue in, picked up her bowl and spoon, and scuttled after the strange creature. “Wait! Come back! I wanna take you home—show my parents!”

Several larger jellies appeared. They jounced against trees and each other like silly bouncy balls. Annani ran as fast as her short legs could, though the creatures outpaced her despite their lack of effort.

“Hey! My feet can’t paddle in circles forever!” Spoon popped into her mouth, arm extended, Annani growled, overexerting herself.

The wind subsided, jellyfish slowed. Her eyes narrowed. My feet really are paddling in circles!

She neared the jellies. Bowl held against her chest, she pawed at the first one she saw. Despite claws, her fingers just slid off the gelatinous body.

Its strings!Upon that epiphany, Annani grasped a handful of the creature’s tendrils. “Oh—whooah!" Hoisted off her feet, her blood rushed. The jelly dragged her through clinking flowers, pollen fluttering about.

Annani snorted moist dirt and grasses before her weight dragged the unintentional kite to a stop. She emerged from the flowers, shaking her messy, powdery spines. She sneezed a puff of pollen, spoon flying out somewhere.

“Oops...”

The tendrils tugged.

Annani dragged the big purple thing through the growing wind. He wriggled out her grasp, drifting away. “Hey!” Annani scuttled after her purple friend.

As wind dispersed pollen off her damp quills and robe, Annani charged forth to retrieve her friend. Tongue flicking, she extended her free hand—something slammed against her, bowl flying out her grasp.

The sky and ground exchanged places.

She disappeared under flowers.

Annani’s glistening head reappeared, quills draping her face. She coughed a mouthful of pollen then sneezed even more through her spines. She pulled her quills to either side—tongue stuck up her cheek—and looked around.

A huge, three-lobed, purple jelly hovered next to her, anchored to the ground by large tendrils.

Annani’s tongue lost stickiness and dangled. She slowly sucked her powdered tongue back in, coughing from accumulated pollen. “Umm, hi.”

A few seconds passed.

The three-lobed gelatinous creature pulsated with lights, floating away with his brethren.

Growling, Annani scowled. Grabbing her bowl, she got up, ready to throw—a single drop of ice cream fell. She shot her tongue out—too late.

"Aw! Should have wwicked it before it fehww...” Tongue retracted, she looked around. “Where’d the spoon go? Oh, well. Better go home before Mum gets worried.” Annani stepped forth but then turned around, eyes narrowing. “But don’t think I’ve forgotten you...”

The bouncing jellies disappeared amongst the trees.

Annani huffed. “Fine, whatever.”

She power walked homeward, wind picking up. The farther she went into the forest, the louder the chiming flowers echoed with birdsong. However, her shoulders and head dropped.

She sighed. Maybe I’ll get a friend some other time...

A flock of birds hovered overhead, gentle creatures with transparent feathers and bodies, bones visible, resembling winged bubbles with skeletons. Some were colourful, feathers like stained glass. All sang, hollow voices reverberating amid trees.

Annani smiled at them.

They flew off.

Her eyes narrowed. “Guess they don’t want me, either.” A hummingbird with feathers like mirrors appeared before her. “Oh?” Eyes widened, she paused.

The hummingbird shifted closer to Annani’s unflinching face. Her inner eyelids closed, mirroring the reflection of the birdie’s feathers—herself. The opposing surfaces created an unending pattern of reflections within reflections. The bird cocked his head, beady eyes unblinking. Annani also cocked her head, made a silly face.

He cheeped.

She cheeped.

Annani slowly raised her palm. The hummingbird perched then cleaned his feathers. She smiled, just watching. Chirping, he flew off amidst the trees, starry night sky visible through openings along the canopy.

Once again, celestial magnificence mesmerised Annani. Why is all that there? She shrugged without an answer.

Annani walked through ringing flowers, approaching the woodland edge. The flowerheads popped, unleashing seeds into the wind. She poked one of the flowers.Ping!

How do they make noises like that?

With mindless wonder, Annani strolled through flowery masses, reflective insects buzzing about. She wriggled through poky underbrush and was whiplashed.

“Ow!” She turned her head; thorns tugged her spines. Biting her tongue, she forcefully reared. Momentum pulled the branches then they whipped back, yanking her off her feet.

Annani sat up, moist robe peppered with pollen. Coughing yellow powder, she clawed at the poky entanglement. She unweaved every spine, removing the occasional twig and bug. Although more of a disastrous wire brush, she freed her quills.

Annani combed her quills with her claws as the forest opened. Shaking her spines, she darted through a field of tall, bubble-like flowers. They rippled as Annani leapt—a stem caught her foot mid-air, she faceplanted the road. She got up, nostrils dripping green over her split lips. The taste made her cross-eyed.

“Uh-oh, I’m bleeding.” She sneezed, green spattering over cobblestone. “Oops, maybe I should’ve spat my blood out somewhere else.”

Annani turned, the globule flowers’ symphony subsiding. She glared. “You better not be laughing at me, or else...” Quills hefted over her shoulder, she power walked onwards.

The forest symphony subsided and the walled city came into view. The wyvern’s gargantuan horns at either side of the keep gave the city a draconic visage.

“He’s staring at me, I just know it!”I hope he didn’t see me fall...

The forest sounds amplified. Annani stopped and turned. Don’t worry, I’ll still be back sometime, maybe after I go through the darkness?

Annani reached the mountainous gatehouse. A single halberdier sleepily leaned against the wall beside the entrance, arms crossed. Partial plate armour protected his body, perfectly polished.

The guard noticed Annani. He stood tall and lifted his visor. He had eyes like hers. “Timely little lady!” Welcome performed, he tended his patience again.

She smiled, saluted with her bowl, and entered.

Annani walked down the crystalline main road. An endless reflection of the night sky went along the road, flanked by arrays of marble buildings and occasional water bridges.

She passed frequent groups of grown-ups with features comparable to hers, robed and hooded yet barefoot, serpentine scales of earthly colours. The usual hairstyle for their prickles—often coloured like their scales—was to leave them hanging over both shoulders, front and back, both masses often tied together around the sternum. Some had their quills hang freely down one shoulder. Others had clipped quills.

Like Annani, the grownups had colourful irises often with scleras of contrasting tones, the speckles as diverse as spectacles within the sky.

Annani stopped at the roadside. Stared at people. Wondered why they walked for no apparent reason. Innumerable pairs of clawed feet chinked against the road, yet none stopped for her.

Are there any blue eyes?

Her silent mesmerisation was noticed by passersby. Some momentarily lifted their hoods and nodded as they went. Those closer briefly pulled their hoods back.

Fewer spoke, unhooded but friendly.

“Happy time, egg!”

“You look very eggy!”

“Good times!”

And they went along.

Annani blinked once, twice. Egg? “Me?” Confusion gripped her. “Oh!” She placed her bowl down then pulled her quills over her front. She flopped her hood over her face, tightly holding it over her face. Her tongue slid out and dangled...

Someone slowly lifted her hood. She was cross-eyed.

An unhooded, dainty boy appeared. Robed in white. His scales pitch-black, eyes like ink.

Her eyes widened. She let the boy unhood her. He beamed.

The boy chirped, “How was your time, egg?”

Annani just stood silently, her tongue retracting.

The melanistic lad licked his lips, his tongue bluer than Annani’s. He cocked his head attentively. “I don’t have many friends.”

Annani paused. “Um, OK.”

He tapped her bowl with his claws. “Why are you carrying a bowl?”

She held it close. “Ice cream.”

Hands clasped, he cocked his head again, gleaming with blackest eyes. “That reminds me of... Umm...”

What does he want?

“You look like the statue!”

“Hunh?”

“The statue! I mean, you look like The Angel! In the stories, she always liked ice cream!”

“Oh?”

“Come sseee with mmeee!” He excitedly beckoned. “Have you ever been to The Fountain of Glory?”

“No.”

“Then you have to come see, quick!” He darted off.

“Wait!” Annani picked up her bowl, running after him.

They swerved between people. Annani bumped into a grey man with a heavily scarred face, losing her friend.

“Hey! Where are you?” Annani called.

“I’m here!” He popped his head out from an alley. “This way!” He darted off.

“Hello!? Don’t just go away so fast!” Annani scurried after her friend. She exited the alley, looking around.

“Over here!” his voice exclaimed beyond crowds. “Where are you?”

“I’m here!”

“Where!?”

“Here! Come!”

“Wait!”

Annani scampered through crowds—her friend’s inky scales stood out amid them. “Wait!” They bumped into each other. “Found you!”

The friends giggled.

“This way!” He darted off.

“I said wait!"

They regrouped at an immense fountain, vast basin fed by an aqueduct and more like a swimming pool, surrounded by hydraulophones played randomly by younglings. Ctenophores swam about, many tiny rainbows created underwater by their bioluminescence.

Annani’s eyes widened. ”Ooo..." She pulled her bowl against herself, gripped so tightly her claws scratched it.

A large black pedestal, shaped as a wyvern’s scary face, grimaced in the centre of the basin. A white statue of a full-figured angel stood upon the draconic pedestal, her cranial spines a flowing curtain frozen in time. Instead of feathers, protrusive scales layered her large wings. She wore a torn robe, muscular legs bare, lean arms and scales visible through the rips. A cuirass moulded upon her abs and bulky breasts, backplate with cut-outs for her wings. She wielded a flaming sword for the killing blow.

That’s me but bigger? No, can’t be.

“See? Your hair is long, like hers. You have exactly the same face, too! Do you see? Do youssseee!?”

“Yes, I do! I’m not dumb! I know what looks exactly like me!”

“So you do see!”

"Ughh!" Annani shook her head, attention back to the statue’s obvious attraction. “She has really big jellyfishes...”

Annani gazed at the statue. Spellbound, imagination replaced reality. Everything faded away as if bubbles amid ripples, Annani a breath of light—a tiny being.

The Angel and wyvern remained in the last moments of their duel, only his horned head and wingtips visible through the clouds. The statue and pedestal transformed into unmoving living beings, the wyvern’s head the size of a mountain.

In her living form, the angel was immense, wings thrice longer than her height, blazing blade twice her length.

The Angel’s quills fluttered very slowly, as if time could not flow. The wyvern inhaled deeply and snarled, eyes up at his adversary as she plunged her sword hilt-deep into his forehead. She kicked off his face, hefty wings flapping.

A hundred lightning bolts showered across the sky, joining into a single arc and conducting into the sword. The wyvern’s eyes and mouth flashed brightly. He shut his beaming eyes, roar imminent as embers and sparks billowed out his injury.

The Angel looked at the tiny being. She covered her mouth as if she gasped...

A splash snapped Annani back into reality. She shook her head, eyes adjusting to light. Her black friend jumped out of the fountain with an armful of ctenophores. The dribbling boy’s tongue drooped and he scuttled to Annani.

"Wwook! Ahn’t t’ese eggs jutht tho cute an’ bootifuhww?"

The moonlit ctenophores glimmered and wobbled.

They’re actually kinda gross...

He squished them against himself, nuzzling and licking.

Now they’re even more gross...

Other little ones giggled and chirped about what he had done.

“Hey! The Angel’s back!” a hydraulophone player squeaked, pointing.

A girl who tossed dried seafood for the ctenophores spun on her heels and gasped. “It really is The Angel!”

Several children leaned away from their activities and grinned. Children unhooded themselves, excitedly swarmed her.

“You’re really eggy!”

“The Angel but small like us!”

“Yes! Like us! So timely!”

“Were you rolling around in flowers?”

“She’s covered in pollen just like in the story!”

Annani’s heart jumped into her throat. She remained dumbstruck.

“She really does look like the statue!”

A boy pointed at her head. “Is that your helmet?”

“No, that’s my bowl.” She held it close.

“I never knew angels could be little!”

“Haven’t you seen her last time?”

“Well, I did!”

“Me too!”

That caught the obsidian boy’s attention. He gently placed his ctenophores back into the basin. “I thought you said you never came here before?”

Annani nervously swallowed. “No, never did. This is my first time here.”

Confused, he cocked his head. “Then why do they recognize you?”

She shrugged. “I dunno.”

The children shyly yet unblinkingly gathered around.

“So she really is real.”

“Well, of course she’s real!”

“She’s more pretty up-close!”

“Are you here to stay forever?”

“Where do you live?”

“Do you want to come to my place?”

“You should come to my place instead!”

Annani covered her heartbeat with her bowl. ”Umm...I need time to think and... Can you all just give me some time?” The children stared like statues.Now look what you’ve done." Uh...I really appreciate all your kindness...and...”

Hands clasped underneath his chin, the melanistic laddie bounced on his heels. “And she’s my friend, she said so herself!”

“Can you be my friend, too?”

“And me?”

“Me too!”

“How about me also?”

“And what about me?”

Annani hid behind her bowl. Too many friends...

“Is that a magic trick?”

“You can do anything, right?”

“Can you really do magic?”

“Yeah! Show us some magic!”

Annani peeked over her bowl. “Uh, what? I don’t—”

An old voice grumbled somewhere. “Petrichor! You black beetle!”

Annani’s friend clicked his claws together, turned nervously.

“Why do you always disappear like that? I thought you were lost or ran away again! I walked all the way around four blocks for nothing!”

The younglings froze as an immense, green grown-up robed in velvet rudely emerged through the unresponsive pedestrians he towered over. Silvery quills hung from his unhooded head like drapes, reaching his midsection. He glared with yellow irises in blue scleras.

“Unfocused and disobedient, just like your father and your mother when they were little!”

The children kept silent as he faced Annani. A few glanced at Annani as she hid behind her bowl again.

The grown-up spoke, ”You’re not part of my class. Who are you, inky-spotted snowy-scales? For what reason do you hold dishware up? Are you from the school? Why are you alone? Where are your parents? Don’t you know children should not wander the streets alone? Why do you remain silent?”

Annani lowered her bowl and glared.You ask more questions than these kids...

“Can this dullard even understand speech? Or should I talk to your bowl instead?”

Annani’s shoulders stiffened as she clenched her little bowl. If I could reach, I would hit your face...

The schoolmaster grunted. “Why do you ignore—” He paused. Slowly, he leaned. Took a closer look. His eyes narrowed. He hissed against clenched teeth, “Why have you returned?”

“Ya!” She looked at Petrichor.“He and the others got excited about me, that’s all. I’m the angel in the fountain.” She proudly gestured to the statue.

He didn’t look. “Yes, yes, of course. Now, go be a snowman and melt.”

Maybe I can climb your hair to punch you...

“Alright, children, we’ve had enough time for leisure. We will return to campus for another time of schooling.”

Most children groaned but a few lightened up.

“Thanks for coming this time, Angel!”

"Buh-bye, Angel!”

“See you next time, Angel.”

“Stay eggy, Angel!”

“I’m gonna be eggy just for her all the time!”

“Children!Now!" They followed their schoolmaster, though the melanistic child stopped for his friend.

Annani comforted, “Don’t worry. We can always meet again next time.”

Sniffling, he wiped his sleeve across his gleamy eyes.

Annani’s shoulders dropped. She held her bowl against herself with one hand and placed the other on his shoulder. His eyes widened. “Don’t be sad. I’m still your friend. We’ll be friends forever, won’t we?”

With a quivery breath, he nodded confidently. “Forever.”

“Petrichor!” the schoolmaster barked. “Come on!”

Annani watched him go. He waved as he left. She waved back and sighed.

Chiming crystals faintly echoed. Annani looked around, nobody else reacted. She gazed at the angel statue—the chimes amplified.

Is that really me? Because I really like her! Annani’s smile widened. “Whatever adventures you had when little like me... I bet I could do it all and come back to show you!”