Under Purple Clouds

Every night at midnight, the purple clouds came out to dance with the blushing sky. Susan sat outside the Legislative Assembly Library in Yellowknife tonight, leaning back against the tiny tree only just big enough to bear her weight, bare hands and feet snuggling into the grass. She watched those clouds, wherever she was, trying also to see the 1st stars of the evening. At last, she felt the small box of peace that lay in her heart blossom out consuming her whole being. Tonight would be special she told herself.

Scouring the sky Susan’s mind drifted back through her past, as she briefly wondered why she had been searching so intently for just the right combination of stars. She had started scouring large scenes for as long as she could remember, sitting on a table next to Mum, they would look for the small among the large. Her Mum would describe what they were looking at. The type of landscape in front of them, the plants and animals that lived there, what we humans had done to harm it, and what that meant for the future.

Slowly as Susan grew up, she got to watch that future unfold. At first, she had worked alongside her mother, learning as many of the stories as possible. The stories come from all different places and disciplines some pure science and some considered dodgy folklore at best. But amazingly it all came together in a coherent way.

Science was the key to helping the future, but there was a story. A group of elders that were more “in touch” with nature, these elders had some kind of power that allowed them to reverse the damage humans had caused. That this power had appeared after they had meditated on a special constellation. These stories were scattered over numerous countries across the northern hemisphere, each had its own flare and flavour but the same basics.

And so, Susan had searched for the science and the constellation. Always at midnight with the purple clouds, they seemed to be the key.

Legs stretched out in front of her, she flexed her foot and moved her stare briefly to the lines made by the veins and muscles. Smiling she started to picture the ancient tree they formed, its branches reaching high in order to blend its leaves through those clouds.

Her rising gaze reached the clouds above just as a gap of clear sky sailed by. There it was, finally, the perfect alignment of stars, but taken from her after mere seconds. Not long enough for the stories, she started scanning the rest of the sky for another break in the clouds large enough to see them again. The hope and excitement that had flooded her body now drained away leaving her pale and gasping for air. She felt sick, now convinced that all of it had been for nothing. The scientists in whose footsteps she traveled had been right all along, there was no way to heal what had been done.

As Susan’s head bowed in defeat, eyes closed, tears welled up. But those eyes flashed open as something tickled her big toe. A leaf poked up from behind her foot. A leaf that had not been there when she sat down, and yet was continuing to grow rapidly she pulled her foot away from the space, as both fears of the new phenomenon, and fascination with it fought for space in her mind. She tried to ensure she took in every move the plant made while fumbling for a camera with blind hands.

That morning as the purple clouds scattered with the coming of the dawn she sat with her back against the new tree, looking ancient with its broad branches reaching well above the library. Susan’s eyes were closed as she reran the growth of the tree over and over in her mind. Sometimes just exactly as it had happened and sometimes with a silent commentary of varying theories from different fields.

Susan grabbed her phone, extending her time at the hotel until she could get her plan in place. This tree needed to be watched, and she would have to be careful who she trusted to help, but there were so many questions now in the bold light of day.

How could it grow so fast? Had it been something from her, or elsewhere? Would the tree have its support and food source comprise because it grew so fast? Would it last, and if so, for how long?

Most importantly, could she make it happen again? That would definitely change the game she smiled to herself.