Cloud Fleet 81

Drifting and floating at 6500 feet, Cirro readied his Cloud Craft. His hands shook as he turned knobs and pressed buttons on his control panel. Making eye contact with his reflection, he examined his white, cottony hair that swirled into a perfect cloud shape. He was pleased with himself. Slowly scanning his face, he noticed that his normally light blue cheeks had taken on a pale, chalky color. “Nerves,” he thought.

Becoming a cloud pilot ran in the family. It was assumed and expected that Cirro would follow in his daddy’s, granddaddy’s, great-granddaddy’s, great-great-granddaddy’s, and great-great-great-grandaddy’s footsteps. Yes, Cirro was a pilot, it was written in his blood, but he considered himself more of a creative than a technical guy– and this job had just enough flair to keep him interested.

Today was Cirro's first solo flight, and as reality set in, his nerves began to fray. He had flown this cloud hundreds of times with his instructor, but still, doubt was slowly creeping in. Trying to keep the panic at bay, he gave himself a little pep talk, "I know what I’m doing. This will be… fun.”

Scanning left and right he assessed the control panels. His cloud began to pulse with energy as he carefully flipped one switch at a time.

Evaporation Collector- ON

Particle Collector- ON

Vapor Converter- ON

Height Builder- ON

Storm Brewer- ON

Rainbow Splasher-ON

Snowflake Knitter- ON

Tornado Whipper- OFF

Cirro reviewed the checklist in his head and mentally marked the boxes. Taking his seat in the oversized, cushy white pilot’s chair he clicked his safety belt into place. Grasping the flight controls he slowly steered his fluffy floating flight craft through the air toward Cloud Gate 9. He carefully weaved into position and threw the cloud in neutral. He watched the other First Officers slowly roll in around him, giving a wave and a salute as they readied their clouds for release.

A squeal and a thump echoed over the speakers in Cloud Gate as morning announcements commenced.

"Welllllcoooommmme, Cloud Fleet 81! You are about to take your first solo flight into the wide open blue skies of the United States, and I hope you’re ready!” the high-pitched voice chuckled, sounding more like a game show host than a commander.“Today you will start your journey in California and move east. Your fleet is responsible for a multitude of weather-related tasks as you cross from state to state. When you reach the eastern border of Colorado your duties will end. At that point, you can put your aircraft on auto-drift, kick up your feet and float all the way to the east coast. Until then, you must be vigilant! Please remember to check your itinerary before crossing state borders, and anticipate your next moves. It is vitally important that you communicate with each other and make sure your team is on the same page- we can’t have any snow tornados!” the commander laughed a long drawn-out laugh that seemed like it would never stop. Finally, and quite abruptly, the laugh ended and she continued, “One last very important thing- don’t forget to tune in to the local weather stations before you cross borders. If they have predicted the weather listed on your itinerary… you are encouraged to do the opposite or vary it just enough to keep the weatherman on his toes. Most importantly, don't forget to have fun! Good luck out there, Fleet 81! Turn your headsets on and tune them to Cloud Com Channel 8. Cloud Gate will open in t-minus 5 minutes, so get your ducks in a row.”

Frantically looking around the cockpit of his Cumulonimbus SR22, Cirro panicked, unaware that his headset was already connected to Cloud Com 8. “Ducks!?!? What ducks? I didn't get ducks! Are we releasing ducks today?”

“Uhhhh, it’s a metaphor!” Nimbus replied with an annoyed laugh over the headset, “Little jumpy over there, eh?”

Cirro took a breath and exhaled hard, “No. Just making sure I’m not missing something important.”

“In the history of flight school, did we ever release ducks?” Nimbus replied snarkily, “Ducks are not our department! Frankly, I’m worried you thought they were. Did you fail the duties section of the written test?”

“You guys going to keep on with that nonsense?” Crystal chimed in, “Let's focus on the first order of business. Does everyone have their itinerary in hand? We’re out of the gate and immediately in California, make sure you know your job.”

“Got it!" Nimbus replied, "Fly over the state, looking like you’re going to dump rain– but they’re in a drought and not on the list for a downpour yet, so hold that trigger finger!”

“What do you guys think about giving them just a touch of moisture, maybe a drip?” Cirro replied.

“Impromptu out of the gate? You’re hardcore dude! Nope, let’s not take risks like that yet. Besides, look at the itinerary, the asterisk next to California says that the weatherman is predicting more dry days and we should definitely stick to the itinerary anyway. I’m not quite ready to be under the scrutiny of Zeus and the Sky Guardians!” Crystal insisted, “They have their reasons. We don't have to like it, we just have to do our job.”

Cirro’s forehead furled as he gritted his teeth. He didn’t like that game, but he knew Crystal was right. Double-checking his systems, he prepared for release. Feeling ready, he took one last look out of his small side window, his eyes scanning the Cloud Gate holding room. Nothing but water below him, and a vaulted roof filled to the brim with big, fluffy white clouds waiting for departure.

“Ready your cloud crafts” the voice crackled over the intercom, “Into the sky in 10…9…8…7…6…54321!”

The giant blue gate slowly opened, and like the releasing of a pressure cooker, the cloud fleet burst forth across the sunny skies of California. Cirro clenched his fists around the flight controls, his light blue knuckles gripped so tight they began to feel numb. Palms sweating, he veered his cloud into position. Feeling the warm air below him, he held the controls steady as the clouds lifted higher and higher into the atmosphere. Finally reaching altitude, they began cruising eastbound.

Feeling more comfortable, Cirro took a deep breath and relaxed his grip, he loosened his shoulders and began to settle in. His heart was happy knowing that his bright white cloud gave a beautiful contrast to the sea blue sky, like a little burst of paint on an indigo canvas.

He took out his binoculars and peered down at the Earth. “Looks dreary down there. More brown than usual.” Cirro said over the com, feeling an achiness in his heart. California was one of his favorite states, but it was becoming unrecognizable since the drought. He felt compelled to do something, drop moisture to the dying flowers, help them find their color again. He hoped for some communal sympathy from his fleet, “You guys sure we shouldn’t just release a little rain on those poor plants?”

“Stay in line, Cirro! Don’t get our fleet in trouble!" Nimbus said, "One cloud can't rain alone, it will raise eyebrows.”

Fighting his conviction, Cirro removed his finger from the sprinkle button.

“Ok gang, we’re approaching the border of Nevada, orders say to head toward Las Vegas!” Nimbus directed, “Crystal, tune into local weather and see what they’re saying.”

Crystal dialed into Channel 11 News and played it over the headset…

“...and now here’s Bill with the weather. Bill, please tell us you have Sunshine in our forecast for today!!” the news reporter chirped.

“Oh, Jenny, I’ve got nothing but sunshine! Looks like we're going to see small bursts of rain out in the desert, but the strip is going to be as clear as it’s ever been!” the weatherman said with a big smile in his voice, “Folks, leave those umbrellas and rain boots at home! It’s the perfect weather for a picnic! Get out there and enjoy your day!”

“Alright, Fleet 81, we’re going to veer toward Las Vegas. Let’s teach this weatherman to play God.” Nimbus laughed as he began flipping switches and pressing buttons on his control panel.

The fleet veered northeast toward the city as they prepared their clouds for a storm.

Rolling through the sky, each cloud slowly turned a dark shade of gray as the rain generator sputtered and spit, waiting to release the build-up of precipitation onto the Earth below.

“Let’s give them a downpour they’ll never forget!” Crystal said with a laugh, adjusting her posture to action mode.

“Yeah, baby! Here we go!” shouted Nimbus.

As they approached the city, Cirro reached over to his control panel and gently clicked the lightning button. With a loud CRACK a bright burst instantly shot out from the bottom of his cloud. Then he quickly smashed the thunder button, his pilot seat vibrating as a monstrous RUMBLE built in intensity as it exploded from the dark fluff.

“That should give them ample warning,” Cirro said over the Cloud Com.

“Maaan, you’re no fun! Now they're all running inside!” Nimbus said “ You guys ready to rain? Everyone turn your dials to Drench and press the Rain button in 3... 2... 1.”

Rain gushed out of the clouds, soaking everyone below.

“Ha HAAAA! That’s what I’m talkin’ about!” Nimbus laughed.

The rain clouds hammered the strip as they floated to the east edge of the city.

“Time to shut off the waterworks,” Crystal said as they approached the city’s border, “Everyone, turn your Rain Intensity knob to Slow Sprinkle… annnnddddd… OFF! Beautiful job everyone! Ciro, you have rainbow duty, go for it whenever you’re ready!”

Cirro loved this part of the job. He never admitted it to anyone, but it was one of the main reasons he wanted to fly. During flight school, he focused more on the art of painting rainbows than any other topic. He was known for making the most beautiful rainbows the sky had ever seen, a point of great pride for him- and for his mother, who always encouraged him to follow his dreams.

“R O Y- G- B I V,” He said out loud, flipping the color switches one by one. He had a secret formula for his creations, he’d give the switch a little jiggle as he flipped it- his technique was all in the flick of his wrist.

At the bottom of the cloud, the rainbow splasher churned and rumbled, as paint buckets stirred and swished. When the colors were done mixing, the Rainbow control panel light turned green and Cirro slowly pressed the button until it clicked, releasing quickly. Another technique he took great care in doing perfectly. Suddenly, a rainbow spilled out into the sky- bright, beautiful colors lighting up against the gray clouds.

“Ah, let me give 'em a double,” he said out loud as he pressed the button again.

Grabbing his binoculars he looked back toward the strip. His heart filled with joy as he watched the crowds gather in awe of his artwork. He smiled as humans oooed and awwwed clicking photos of his masterpiece. That scene was enough to make everything worth it.

“Alright fleet, let’s head northeast toward Utah, then we’ll cut across to Colorado. After a nice spring snow over the Rockies, our weather-making will conclude for the day. Then we can kick back, grab a snack and float to the east coast, Cloud Gate 99,” Nimbus said over the com.

Cirro checked his itinerary for Utah...

****

UTAH

Refuel at Sevier Lake.

Short sprinkle over Richfield

Then dry to the border

****

As they crossed the state line, they turned their clouds north toward Sevier Lake.

“There it is! Tune your dials to Maximum Evaporation Collection!” Crystal said.

The clouds were always on a low suction for particles and water evaporation in the atmosphere, but with a spring snowstorm in Colorado, they needed extra moisture.

Slowly drifting over the lake, Cirro pressed his Evap Collector button and turned the knob to Maximum Collection. His cloud made a loud suction noise, like a vacuum cleaner, and pulled moisture into the tank. He watched the gauge slowly move from ½ to full. Turning the knob back to Neutral Collect, the suction slowed. Each cloud, having doubled in size, spaced out across the sky to make more room for their voluptuous fluff. Cirro slowly climbed to a higher altitude, taking in the views of the painted desert.

“Looks like the weatherman has predicted storms across the state, so we’ll stick to the itinerary,” Crystal informed.

“Small sprinkle in Richfield it is...and then dry,” Nimbus chuckled.

They floated into Richfield, turned their controls to Sprinkle, and pressed their buttons in unison releasing a minimal amount of water.

“Cirro, give them a fleeting rainbow!” Crystal said.

Cirro was already on it. Preparing the Rainbow Splasher, he set the knob to 30-Second Fade and gently pressed the button. Even with the smallest piece of work, Cirro took pride in making it artful. A faint rainbow shot out of the cloud like a crescendo and slowly dissipated.

“Nice one!” Crystal’s voice came over the com with a smile.

“Fleet, we’re now approaching Colorado. Let’s see what the weatherman has predicted here. It’s our last job, then lunch!” Nimbus said excitedly.

Crystal tuned in to Channel 15 and played it over Cloud Com...

“...and now here’s Bob with the weather. Bob, don’t let us down. It's May, Bob. Please tell me that the plants I put in the ground this weekend aren't going to freeze! Please, Bob, give us the good news!” The reporter pleaded.

“Well Allie, you are in luck! Looks like the mountains are going to get a good amount of snow, but that’s pretty normal for spring. Most of you up there in Vail probably knew better than to plant those flowers just yet! But down here in the foothills we’re expecting a rain shower, possibly giving us a dusting of late afternoon snow, but nothing too brutal. I’d cover those basil plants, but they should make it!” Bob said in his sing-song voice.

"Ok guys, you ready to dust the mountains and dump some serious snow in the foothills?” Nimbus exclaimed.

“Let’s do it!” Crystal laughed, “Cirro, how ‘bout you?”

This was the one part of the job Cirro didn’t enjoy. He didn’t like to catch people off guard. But, this is what he signed up for, and if he wanted to paint the clouds, he had to follow orders until he established a name for himself.

“Yep, I’m ready!” Cirro replied.

“Alright, let’s do it!” Nimbus shouted as he pumped a fist into the air, “As soon as we hit the border, release the dusting. When we get to the Boulder foothills, let’s DUMP down and eastbound!” Nimbus ordered.

The billowy clouds drifted across the border of Colorado. Cirro turned his snow dial to Dust and pressed the release valve. Small knit ice crystals softly fell, leaving a whisper of snow on the jetting mountain peaks below.

Suddenly, Cirros cloud made a jarring banging noise and began shaking. A loud, blaring alarm rang through the cockpit. Startled by the sudden disturbance, his heart, and mind began to race.

“You ok over there?” Crystal called over the Cloud Com.

“I think my snow slurry is freezing up!” Cirro replied in a frantic voice. He had practiced for this in the flight simulator, but it had never happened to him on an actual flight. His eyes scanned the control panel looking for the Emergency Thaw switch. Spotting it, he quickly lifted the plastic security cover and hit the giant red button. Nothing happened. He hit it a second time. He heard a faint clicking sound, but again, nothing happened.

"I may have to fall behind! It’s not igniting!” He yelled frantically, the loud beeping alarm still blaring as he flipped through his emergency manual.

“Stay calm. Slow your cloud to auto-drift. You’re going to have to climb out and light it manually. You’ll be able to catch up if you work quickly. We’ll slow our speed and try to wait for you. We’re ahead of schedule so we’ll have plenty of time to dump snow before rush hour traffic.” Nimbus replied.

Cirro started to sweat at the thought of climbing out of his cloud for this task. He may or may not have been doodling rainbows into the margins of his notes during the "manual lighting" portion of flight training, but he knew he had to prove himself. If he let the fleet down and had to bow out on his first solo flight, he’d certainly get a talking to, at the least, and he wasn’t ready to face Zeus. He zeroed in on the emergency booklet, quickly reading the section on Manual Snow Slurry Thawing. His eyes scanned the instructions as he tried to focus his concentration on reading and absorbing the information.

Once he was confident he knew what to do, Cirro stood up in the cockpit and pulled his harness on, one leg at a time. He snapped the safety belt around his waist, tested it with a tug-tug, and clipped the carabiners into the rings by the cabin door. He grabbed the emergency repair kit and threw it over his shoulder. As he slowly opened the cabin door, a burst of cold air flew through the cockpit, sending a shiver through his entire body. Cirro grabbed the rolled-up ladder, cut the zip ties that held it together, and secured it to the hooks on the floor. As he released it out the door, it violently flipped in the wind, slowly magnetizing into place as it whipped against the side of the cloud. Cirro closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and cautiously descended toward the bottom of his craft.

“How’s it comin’, buddy?” Crystal’s concerned voice broke Cirro's intense concentration, startling him.

“Almost to the manual thaw compartment,” Cirro replied, trying to control the shake in his voice.

Finally, he had his hand on the small door. He rummaged through his kit and grabbed his lighter.

“Cirro, there’s a human aircraft coming our way. You need to put on your cloud camouflage suit!” Nimbus ordered.

Cirro’s heart sank. He thought he had everything, but he forgot the camo! He didn’t reply and began working faster, knowing he didn't have time to go back up the cloud before the aircraft would arrive. Balancing on his ladder, reassured by his harness’ tight pull, his hands shook as he pressed the ignite button. Click-click-click came from inside the compartment as he lit his windproof lighter into the hole. Nothing happened. He tried again.

“CIRRO! It’s approaching quickly! You do HAVE your CAMO suit, don't you?” Nimbus’ voice pleaded.

Once again, Cirro didn’t answer and frantically clicked the button and lit the lighter a second time. It wouldn’t ignite.

Suddenly, his cloud began vibrating as the sound of the human aircraft grew louder and louder. Cirro’s thoughts raced. He paused, pressing himself tightly against his cloud, hoping that his white jumpsuit and hair would be enough to camouflage his light blue body.

In an instant, a massive burst of wind rushed against him, sending his magnetized ladder flying into the air.

“This is not supposed to happen,” he whined through a grimace as he held tight to the ladder rungs.

Cirro’s harness secured him to the cloud as he was flung off the ladder and into the air. Time seemed to move in slow motion as the airplane zoomed past him. He caught a glimpse of the aircraft and noticed a small child peering out one of the windows, pointing and waving.

Cirro looked around, then realized the child was waving at him.

“Ahh, what the heck?!” he thought, and he waved back. In an instant, the child pointed a phone camera at him. It was one thing to be spotted by a small humanoid, but being photographed would be his downfall. Just before he panicked, he remembered a trick his flight instructor taught him…turning the corners of his mouth into the shape of an upside-down rainbow, he smiled as widely as he could, showing his giant mouthful of pearly white teeth, so bright it looked like a sunbeam was shooting out of his face. This would allegedly create a flare in the kid’s photo, and Cirro would remain anonymous.

He willfully kept his eyes on the plane’s windows, focusing on smiling brightly just in case anyone else caught a glimpse of him flailing around as he was whipped and flipped by the gusts of wind. No adults looking up. Everyone was deep in their phones and books.

As quickly as the airplane had appeared it was gone, although that short time felt like an eternity. A close call. Too close.

With the plane out of sight, the winds slowed and his ladder snapped back into place. He went into a brief free fall until his harness reached full extension, holding him tight as he slammed into the side of the cloud. He dangled for a moment centering himself and getting his bearings. He saw his ladder to his right. Leaning back, he pulled against his harness straps and dug his feet into the soft, yet firm fluff. Kicking off the side of the cloud he made his way back to the ladder. Somehow he managed to hold on to his emergency kit and lighter through all the chaos. Back at the compartment, he pressed the button, struck his lighter, and the defroster lit and engaged.

“Success!” He said out loud, sighing with relief.

“Cirro! Were you spotted?” Nimbus’ frantic voice blurted over his headset.

Cirro paused. “Nah, everyone was distracted,” he lied. He figured that the waving, paparazzi child wasn't worth mentioning. He didn't want to get Nimbus' jumpsuit in a twist.

He closed the compartment door, climbed back up, and pulled himself into the cockpit. Panting, he rolled up the ladder and closed the cabin door behind him. As he walked toward the cloud deck, knees shaking, he kicked off his harness and plopped down into his pilot's seat. His heart rate slowly returned to normal as he took a few deep breaths, collecting himself. He noticed the cloud steaming as the snow slurry thawed just enough to knit snowflakes again.

Due to the unexpected event with the humanoid aircraft, he'd lost a lot of time and his fleet. Pressing forward at a record speed, he finally rejoined the other First Officers just in time to dump snow all over the foothills.

“Glad to see you and your cloud in one piece!” Crystal said.

“Cirro, you could have gotten us in a load of trouble, forgetting that camo suit!” Nimbus chimed in. “That was a rookie mistake; we can’t afford those.”

“I know, but we’re clear,” Cirro reassured him.

Nimbus felt uneasy but moved on. They had a blizzard to think about.

“Check out the humans below!” Crystal said, "They're in a panic!"

Cirro took out his binoculars and watched as the people ran around frantically, filling grocery store parking lots, and loading their carts with bread and milk as they observed the turbulent clouds rolling into town.

“Let’s give them just enough snow to teach them a lesson on planting too early, but not enough that they have time to get through that load of groceries they’re stocking up on!” Nimbus laughed.

“Get ready to dump!” Crystal shouted, “In 3... 2... 1!”

The cloud pilots turned their dials to Blizzard status and hit the Snow button. The cloud snowflake knitting needles started clicking faster and faster, clipping off each flake, and sending them plummeting toward Earth in a whirlwind of snow.

Crystal tuned in to the local news as they rolled through town and played it over the Cloud Com. She liked to hear the weatherman try to explain himself.

“Well, well, well, Bob. What do you have to say about this blizzard we’re having?” the news reporter scolded.

“Well, Allie… I…uhhhh... I thought I read the radar correctly… I, ahhhhh…. I didn’t think… the numbers said something else… I…. well… you know Mother Nature, she has a mind of her own.”

The cloud pilots smiled and gave a nod. They liked that answer.

“Poor Bob,” Cirro thought, feeling bad as Nimbus and Crystal chuckled. When Cirro became a Captain and made a name for himself, that would be the first rule he’d petition against.

Feeling guilty and remorseful, Cirro decided to do something daring, something completely impulsive and off-script. If he had learned anything about flying clouds from his daddy, it was that sometimes you have to make emergency decisions. Cirro thought this qualified. After all, if Bob quit his job, it would take away the excitement of the Cloud Pilots who liked making a liar out of him. He was doing it for the fleet, he justified in his mind. He muted his Cloud Com and took out his skyPhone. He dialed the local weather station and gave an anonymous tip.

Looking back through his binoculars, Cirro zeroed in on the news station building. He watched Bob bolt outside with his camera and look up toward the clouds. As snow pelted Bob's freezing cheeks, he saw it with his very own eyes– a massive quadruple rainbow spilling out of the clouds taking up a good portion of the sky! Brilliant neon colors cut through the icy downpour, creating the most beautiful arches of dazzling pigments against the white blizzarding background.

Bob snapped photo after photo, overjoyed. Mesmerized by the sight of it, he fell to his knees he cried massive tears from the overwhelming beauty, then he began laughing like a little kid. At that moment, Bob remembered why he loved his job! He had been passionate about weather since the early age of ten. His enthusiasm for the incredible, unpredictable, wild world of Mother Nature was confirmed as he smiled, giving a nod and a salute to the sky.

“CIRRO! A move like that could get you suspended, or fired!” Nimbus shouted.

Cirro didn't care. He took off his headset and threw it aside as Nimbus continued to lecture. Cirro pointed his skyPhone camera toward the weatherman and captured the most beautiful image he had ever seen- a human admiring the beauty of nature in all of its crazy wonder, and he remembered why he decided to follow in his father’s footsteps, although his reasons were completely different.

Cirro’s passion was not in the flying, like the generations before him, rather, his passion was inspiring fascination, wonderment, and awe! Contributing to the betterment of the earth and all the creatures who live on it. Creating beauty on the sky’s canvas. Making magic with uniquely knit snowflakes. Igniting fascination in every lightning bolt. Enhancing sunsets and sunrises as light beams played with his cloud, projecting colorful hues. But most of all, painting beautiful rainbows that fill awestruck eyes- teaching the world that even on the stormiest days, beauty can be found.

He'd take whatever consequences came his way. He didn't care. Cirro was a pilot, yes, but deep at his core, he was an artist.

*****************************************

*This story was inspired by my nine-year-old and three-year-old boys, whose constant inquisitive spirits keep me on my toes- but most importantly, they keep my imagination full of whimsy and wonder.