My phone is in for repair. Oddly enough, after the initial twitchiness from being without it, I am able to see things I hadn’t noticed in ages. The people on the platform, people walking down the street, sitting in the neighbourhood cafe or lining up to buy goods in the local grocery store. With heads bowed and eyes glued to the screens, they don’t see what I see.
This morning I take a book with me to read. One with an actual spine and covers and pages that my fingers pick up. And the smell! There’s nothing like the smell of a book, especially an old book.
While on the first leg of my journey to work, I choose to look out of the window. I watch the traffic slowing across the bridge. I gaze at other passengers as they alternatively alight and enter the carriage at various stations. The second leg of my travels is underground and I bury my head in the pages of the book I brought with me. Cheery subject matter. A comedian makes me laugh amid the tragedy that is his life. I guffaw out lout. Can’t put it down. Here’s my stop. I alight and tap off and squeeze through the exit, following the line of others heading in the same direction. Outside in the street, I look up. There are birds swooping. Noisy Mynahs attacking a Raven. “Pee-pee-pee-pee-pee-pee.” They cry. The Raven tries to ignore them, but gets fed up and flies away.
That’s odd. The rest of the sky is bright blue but a clump of grey cloud hangs in the sky like the kind you see in cartoons when one person gets rained on. I laugh it off. The cloud moves then picks up speed. What? I’m staring open mouthed as it vanishes. Someone pushes me from behind and I realise I’m standing in the way of disgruntled travellers on their way to work. I lose sight of the cloud, shrug and continue on my way.
At lunch time I’m sitting outside in the brilliant sunshine revelling in the warmth. Jonah, my superintendent joins me on the bench. “Nice day.” He says as he opens the paper bag bearing a fast food giant’s logo.
“Hmm,” I mumble with a mouthful of the sandwich I brought from home.
He slurps his soda, takes a huge bite of the burger and says, “oook-a-tha.”
“What?”
He’s pointing to the sky. I follow the line of his finger, swallow then say, “Oh yeah. I saw something like that this morning. Weird isn’t it? Only one cloud. And that’s a really perfect shape like a someone painted it.”
The cloud is completely still in that otherwise bare, blue expanse. While we eat, we sit watching the cloud even though it doesn’t move. By the time I’ve finished my sandwich, Jonah has demolished his, we stand to return to work. The cloud moves a little to the left, a little to the right then whoosh, it’s gone as fast as a stealth fighter jet.
Jonah and I look at each other.
I say, “We didn’t really see that did we?”
“Must be some strong winds today.”
I nod uncertainly.
Later, I check the weather report and news services on the net for any unusual activity. There is none.
When I’ve finished work and am heading out of the building, the first thing I do is look up and there it is. The cloud has returned. Is it my imagination or is it coming closer? It seems to be moving towards me. I get a creepy feeling as though I’m being watched but dismiss the idea. I put my head down and race towards the station, trying to ignore the impulse to stop and stare. Instinct tells me the cloud is nearby, but I do my best to take no notice of it hoping it will not be there if I look again. Yet, at the same time, I wish it were. As I near the station entrance, I don’t want to look, but do. And there it is, the cloud is almost directly above me. With heart pounding, I follow the rest of the foot traffic into the tunnel.
I tell myself that I’m silly, it’s my imagination. Could a cloud follow me?
As I exit the station near my home, I tentatively peep at the sky and see normal, natural cloud formations far off in the distance and sigh with relief. Chuckling to myself at my stupidity, I go to the local grocery store to buy milk, I pocket the change as I exit and am walking towards my house when instinct tells me to look up. I ignore it.
Look up.
I don’t and continue on my way. I’m at the letter box, ‘look up’ the inner voice says.
I keep my head down. As I’m at my door, I can no longer resist, I finally do look up and there it is, outlined in blue and dark grey. The cartoon cloud moves directly overhead, looming larger than I imagined. I say the first thing that comes to mind, “Hello?” But get no reaction. I try to see inside but I can’t. We’re at a stand off. Neither of us moves. My skin is prickling, the hairs all over my body rise. I’m fascinated as energy accelerates from the soles of my feet to the top of my head. The feeling is orgasmic. The cloud and I are face to face.
It happens quickly, I see the light but don’t feel it when lightning strikes.
