Nimble Stratus

Every night at midnight, the purple clouds came out to dance with the blushing sky. Their footwork was sloppy tonight, but sky was patient with them. It had been a particularly long day and the clouds were drained, emotionally and otherwise. Still, rain or shine, a date's a date. Besides, she liked seeing them like this... clumsy and uninhibited. There was something particularly breathtaking about the way the starlight rolled over their violet crystalline peaks, as they undulated over the cold draughts rising from the near-frozen lake beneath them. They'd learned long ago not to meet like this overland. The people of Michigan were a superstitious lot.

The sky often pitied the clouds. Always the bearers of bad news. A foreboding omen which signalled the inevitable ruin of picnic and providence. It pained her to think that the clouds and their rain were once worshipped here; A welcome gift which bore fruit and fortune, now cursed and begrudged to the point where they were loath to come out at all, unless asked particularly nicely in the right way by the right people. The right people being as few and far between these days as the crops they once tended. Still, semi-retirement had it's perks. The clouds led a peaceful existence, spending most of their time in the mountains and only coming into town when necessary. They'd avoided Detroit altogether since Blondie's had shut down, which was quite a shock to the locals but did wonders for the economy.

The clouds pitied the sky, too. Doomed to forever be exposed to the ever-evolving foolishness of earth and its inhabitants... Housing the Sun and stars and keeping them all in perfect harmony, while they get all the thanks and appreciation. Nobody ever thanked the sky for holding up the sun that shone on their birthday, or for leading when the clouds were out of step from the cold so that everyone could still have their Hallmark Christmas. "How tiring it must be to be the sky", the clouds sighed as they rested their head on sky's shoulder. The sky assured the clouds that it wasn't so bad. The sun and the moon and the stars and the clouds had always been there to hold up their end, and frankly the anonymity suited her. "Still, the odd thank you every once in a while would be nice". The sky bristled at the saltiness of her own tone. Perhaps the Bay of Fundy clouds were a bad influence after all. Still, they did know how to party.

The sky digressed. "Anyway, it's not like either of them were getting much thanks and appreciation these days. At least from the folks on the ground".

That was different, the clouds said. The sun can choose not to shine and clouds can decide wether to provide rain or not as it suits them. Not so for the sky. She was always there, right when and where they needed her, just in case. They'd taken that for granted.

"I'm sorry", said the clouds, tightening their footwork. The sun assured them they had nothing to apologize for. The clouds lifted the sky off her feet and into an iridescent maelstrom of air, water and light.

"Thank you", they said, dipping her gently and resting her back on her nimbus feet.

"Better", she replied.