Toonie and The Dark Cloud (standard:fairy tales, 2406 words)
Author: FlutterWrites	Added: Mar 10 2013	Views/Reads: 3265/2240	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
Toonie is a strange girl , and she is friends with a strange cloud.

Click here to read the first 75 lines of the story

be respectful. So, they both went up to group of parents and their 
children walking on the sidewalk .She tried to appear as friendly as 
possible. 

“Hello, Ma'am, I was wondering if your kid and I could play together in
a park.” The cloud bounced up and down in a happy greeting. The 
children's parents glanced at Toonie and her cloud companion . My word 
what big eyes! Do they really want their precious children playing with 
a stumpy martian child and her weird cloud thing? 

Avoiding eye contact, and faking the biggest smiles possible, they all
said the same thing. “Um... thank you, but we all have plans.” 

Toonie was puzzled, so she asked her parents, “Mother, Father how can
they all have plans?  Doesn't that seem a little strange to you?” 

Her parents did not know how to answer, and after an awkward silence,
Toonie quipped, “Oh boy, now I remember, there is a festival today! My, 
I must have seemed so rude to try to get them to break their plans to 
just to go to an ordinary park!” 

So off Toonie and her cloud went to play  .They found the swings and
Toonie pushed the cloud until it went so high that it slipped out of 
its seat. Then it was the clouds turn to push Toonie. They had a great 
time, her parents could hear them both laughing. The park was packed 
that day, but once people saw Toonie and her cloud, for some reason 
everyone let them have the park to themselves. 

When they had tea parties , they would invite all the other little girls
on the block , but no one would ever come .They figured maybe their 
dress code was a little too strict , after all the invitations did say 
–hat and gloves required . Stuffy maybe, but it was tradition. 

Toonie would wear her wide brimmed hat with a large green bow, and the
cloud would borrow her pink pillbox hat with a veil. The cloud grumbled 
a little, it felt that it looked ridiculous. But, it wanted to be a 
gracious guest. The cloud couldn't lift the teacup, so Toonie would 
hold it up high so it could drink. Following etiquette, it made sure to 
sip the tea demurely and kept its pinky up. 

One day, they decided to go to the carnival. Not wanting to be a bad
patron Toonie asked if the cloud had to pay admission. Not knowing the 
policy on stowaway clouds, the attendant let the cloud in for free, but 
said it had to buy plenty of snacks. This time the cloud did not 
grumble once, it was in a great mood. After riding the coaster, 
spinning in humongous teacups, swinging on the pendulum, Toonie and the 
cloud felt a little queasy. So they decided to take a break and get 
their faces painted. 

Toonie opted for a bright orange tropical bird with its outstretched
feathers to be painted on the left side of her cheek. The cloud chose a 
smiley face, but the paint couldn't dry on its surface. So it just 
dripped down, leaving a trail of yellow paint when it followed Toonie 
to the next diversion. 

When the two sat down to eat some cotton candy and watch the street
shows, the other patrons assumed she was part of the freak show 
performers.  After having watched bearded ladies, giant babies, and a 
reptilian man, Toonie and the dark cloud were much less bizarre. After 
all, they assumed it was all part of an act. 

Not wanting to disappoint their audience the pair came with a series of
some impromptu acts. Toonie would do a rain dance and then the cloud 
would shower the audience. She would then pretend to be a mad scientist 
while the cloud darkened and put on a spectacular lightening show .That 
day they both earned about $60 from tips. 

A young man, probably just starting college, had been watching the
entire performance .While the rest of the small audience enjoyed the 
show, he looked apathetic. His arms were crossed and his lips were 
pulled into a tight scowl. His sour face continued even when the crowd 
had departed. He stood there for a while, sulking and staring at Toonie 
and the cloud. Finally, he could no longer handle it. He angrily 
charged forward until he was right in front of Toonie. 

“Do you realize what you've done?!”  He was flailing his arms , shouting
at the top of his lungs at little Toonie. He was of an average height, 
but she was so small that in comparison he looked like a bear towering 
over a baby fox. 

Toonie was taken aback, she hung her head. “Yes, I'm sorry. I probably
needed a permit to perform with my friend. Are you here to fine me?” 

That just made him angrier, his face turned red and the veins in his
neck began to show. 

“That's not what I am talking about!” “Don't you realize that now,
you'll always be a freak to these people?” “You'll always be a 
performing monkey!!” 

“No, sir, I have no monkey, just a cloud.” “Adopting a monkey is very
difficult these days.” she said with wide eyed honesty. 

He sighed. 

“Let's try this again  ... You know that you have a cloud hanging over
your head, don't you?” 

The young man was not prepared for her next answer. 

“Oh of course! She's my best friend; I named her Strawberry Sherbert ,
Sherbert for short. What did you name your cloud?” Toonie gave a 
toothless smile; she had just lost her two front baby teeth. 

“My cloud? I don't have a cloud, you do.” 

Toonie gave a childish giggle. 

“Oh really so what is that there?” She pointed up above him. 

The young man turned his neck .Bewildered, he saw that, up above his
head was a shadow, above the shadow was a plumpish gray cloud. How long 
had that been there? His eyes darted back and forth from Toonie to 
Sherbert and then back to his own cloud again. He did this a few times. 
He counted, one cloud, two clouds. One cloud, two clouds. Sherbert and 
mine. His hands were shaking and his lips stammering . Toonie couldn't 
understand the words he was saying. He kept staring at the cloud above 
him for several moments. Toonie used this time to buy different colored 
balloons with the money she had earned. 

“Um, mister  ... I have to go now. My parents are going to worry if I'm
gone too long.” Toonie then turned away and started to walk. 

“Wait! You can't go!” He was finally snapped out of his stupor. He
frantically walked by her side and began to desperately fire off a 
round of questions. 

“How long have you known about your cloud?” 

“You mean, Sherbert? She was there when I was born.” 

“How did you come to realize that you had a cloud?” 

“It's pretty hard not to notice Sherbert, she's always around me”,
Toonie and Sherbert shared a chuckle. 

“So , what does it do then ? Is it just going to rain on me every day?”
he wailed. 

“No, not every day, only when it's upset, or when it's being playful.
Don't worry the water is a little cold but it's always refreshing.” 

“Will it ever zap me with lightening?” 

“Sometimes, but it's not very strong.” 

The young man was near tears. He cried out in frustration “Why did this
have to happen to me? 

“Sir, don't feel bad. Everyone is born with a dark cloud above them. I
can see all the clouds above the people here in this carnival. But for 
some reason, everyone pretends that they are not there. I think that 
hurts the clouds feelings and the cloud rains on them until they are 
noticed.” 

The young man felt little comfort. He sarcastically blurted out, “Well,
isn't this grand?” 

“Yes it is! I never feel alone. I always have someone to play with or
someone to listen to me . Guess what my favorite part is?” 

“What?” 

“After the thunderstorms, lightening, and the rain are all done, out
comes the sunshine and the rainbows! .Just remember that, and you'll be 
alright mister.” 

Toonie forgave him for his outburst earlier; she knew he wasn't angry,
just sad. She then went on her way, and left the young man to his own 
thoughts. After some reflection, the young man mustered enough courage 
to begin walking to his car. 

He never could put his finger on it, but he had known that something had
been hanging over him his entire life. For him, life had been one 
endless, miserably rainy parade. Well,at least  now he knew where the 
rain was coming from. But like other people, he didn't even know how to 
identify the root cause of his dark cloud. He knew even less on how to 
deal with it, let alone how to become chummy with it. 

At last, he reached his car and was about to open the door. He looked
back at the carnival from which he had come .He saw that strange, large 
eyed girl and Sherbert. The girl was clutching her precious balloons; 
my how she had bought a large cluster! All of that helium would 
periodically lift her above the ground .The cloud would fly to the very 
top of the highest balloon and gently push it back down , and then 
Toonie would be touching the ground again. 

He lifted his eyes to stare squarely into the cloud he had tried so hard
to ignore for years. Ok, no more hiding now. When he finally spoke, his 
voice was different. He was calm but resolute. 

“Hello, it seems we never introduced ourselves. My name is Brian.” 

“I think I will call you Max. That was the name of my brother. We used
to be very close, but not anymore. Life is funny that way .Well, this 
time Max can't shut me out anymore .Why don't we go home now, Max?” 

With that, ‘Max' nodded made his way into the car. He hovered slightly
to the right of his host and politely gave him a few rays of sunshine. 


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