“Worst Prank EVER”…

I Was Freaking Out! I’m not gonna lie.

I mean, here I was thinking I was the one playing practical jokes.

Turns out, they PRANKED ME!

See, I was doing my whole “dreaming of becoming an astronaut” routine. Shhhhh! Don’t tell anybody. But it’s my thing!

Most afternoons after school…

I pretend I’m walking across the Moon…

floating through space…

or discovering brand-new planets nobody has EVER seen before!

While everybody else looks for Pokémon cards…

I’m looking for shooting stars.

Yep.

Even during the daytime.

(I’m an astronaut-in-training.

Don’t judge me.)

My imagination is almost as big as the universe itself!

Anyway, this afternoon, I zipped up my backpack and waved goodbye to my teacher.

“See you tomorrow!” I yelled.

I ran down the sidewalk, kicking tiny pebbles into the grass while humming.

“Zooming through Jupiter… waving at Mars… don’t forget your astronaut snacks!”

Just then…

“Raajiiiii…”

I stopped.

Turned around.

Nobody.

Not a single person.

“Hmmm…”

I shrugged my shoulders.

Thinking my friends were hiding somewhere trying to scare me,” I giggled.

“Nice try!”

I continued walking.

A few moments later…

“Raaajiiii…”

This time the voice sounded closer.

Much closer.

I spun around.

Behind the trees?

Nothing.

Behind the fence?

Nothing.

Across the street?

Still nobody.

I scratched my head.

“Okay…this is weird.”

Trying not to let it bother me, I kept walking.

Then…

“RAAJI!”

The voice boomed across the neighborhood.

Birds fluttered from the trees.

Leaves rustled.

Even the squirrels froze.

My backpack nearly fell off my shoulders.

“WHO SAID THAT?”

Silence.

I looked left.

Right.

Up.

Down.

Nothing.

My heart began beating a little faster.

“This isn’t funny anymore,” I whispered.

Then…

A warm golden light gently touched my face.

“Finally…”

said a cheerful voice.

“I’ve been trying to get your attention all day.”

I slowly lifted my eyes toward the sky.

The enormous golden Sun smiled down at me.

I blinked once.

Twice.

Three times.

“I must’ve eaten too much pizza at lunch.”

The Sun chuckled.

“It wasn’t the pizza.”

I rubbed both eyes.

The Sun was still smiling.

“Maybe I fell asleep in math class…”

“Nope.”

“Maybe I’m dreaming?”

“No again.”

I looked around carefully.

“Okay…who’s hiding the giant speaker?”

“There isn’t one.”

Tiny golden rays laughed so hard, they accidentally tied themselves into little sunshine pretzels.

“I really am talking to you?”

I stood perfectly still.

For the first time in my entire seven years of life…

I did not know what to say.

Just then…

Tiny giggles landed beside my shoe.

“He finally figured it out!”

I looked down.

A bright yellow daisy was laughing as she snorted pollen..

Not moving in the wind…

Laughing.

Then another flower joined in.

“So did I!”

“And me!”

“And me too!”

Within seconds, the entire flower bed burst into cheerful chatter.

Tulips.

Daisies.

Sunflowers.

Roses.

Lilies.

Every flower seemed delighted.

I stumbled backward.

“You…I mean, flowers can TALK?”

“Of course!” giggled the flowers.

“We’ve always talked.”

“You just couldn’t hear us before.”

I slowly turned back toward the smiling Sun.

“Soooooo…” I whispered,

“I’m… I am not imagining all this?”

The Sun’s warm smile grew even brighter.

“No, Raaji.”

“This isn’t your imagination.”

“It isn’t a prank.”

“It’s not a dream either.”

“And it definitely isn’t one of your practical jokes.”

The Sun leaned IN a little closer.

“The Universe has been waiting for you.”

I held up both hands, swallowing.

“The… The Universe?”

“Oh yes,” replied the Sun.

“We’ve been hoping you’d finally hear us.”

The flowers nodded excitedly.

“The Moon keeps changing its mind about you.”

Raaji, “Wait…what??”

The Sun:

“Yesterday the Moon said, ‘He seems nice.’ Today she said, ‘Hmm…I’m still thinking about it.”

The flowers all start talking at once.

“She likes you!”

“No she doesn’t!”

“Yes she does!”

“She changes her mind every night!”

“The Rainbow keeps changing colors because she’s so excited.”

“The Wind has been blowing your name all over town.”

“The Clouds have been trying REALLY hard not to rain from excitement.”

My mouth fell open.

“The…Moon?”

“The Rainbow?”

“The Wind?”

“The Clouds?”

The Sun smiled.

“And that’s just the beginning. Trust me, the stars NEVER stop twinkling!” Sun rolls his eyes dramatically.

Raaji stared into the brilliant afternoon sky.

Only a few minutes earlier, he had been walking home from school expecting an ordinary afternoon.

Now…

The Sun knew his name.

Flowers were laughing.

The Moon wanted to meet him!

And somewhere beyond the clouds…

the entire Universe was WAITING!

“WE KNEW YOU’D COME!!”

“ “I TOLD YOU HE’D COME! …”

“”No…YOU HOPED he’d come!”

“Same thing!”

“Can everybody PLEASE stop interrupting?!”

“Sorry.”

“Sorry.”

“Sorry.”

“Not sorry.”

I smiled the biggest smile of MY life.

Maybe…

just maybe…

this ordinary walk home…

was the beginning of the greatest adventure ever!

And that is when I discovered…

It wasn’t a prank!.

… The Sun smiled.

“So…

are you coming Raaji?”

I looked up toward the sky.

I looked down at all the flowers.

I looked back toward my house.

Mom was probably wondering why I was taking FOREVER to get back home.

I took one giant breath.

Grinned.

And said…

“Well…I’ve already blamed the dog before…”

Then immediately…

“Just kidding!”

“I don’t even HAVE a dog.”

The flowers giggled.

The clouds drifted a little closer, as if they did not want to miss what happened next.

As I said aloud, “…besides, how often does the SUN invite you somewhere?“

…TO BE CONTINUED…

Cloud Number 9

By the time I finally got home…

Mom had already asked me where I had been.

Three times.

I almost told her.

I really did.

But then I remembered…

Who would believe a kid who says,

“Sorry I’m late…the Sun wanted to introduce me to the Universe.”

Yes…

Exactly.

So, I kept my mouth shut.

Sort of.

“I got…distracted.”

Mom smiled.

“Again?”

“Yep.”

She shook her head.

“You’ve got one amazing imagination, Raaji.”

If she only knew…

That night, I could not sleep.

Every time I closed my eyes…

I heard the Sun’s voice.

“The Universe has been waiting for you.”

Waiting?

For me?

Why?

Around midnight…

A soft breeze slipped through my bedroom window.

“Raaajiiiii…”

I sat straight up.

“Oh no…”

The breeze giggled.

“No…

Oh YES.”

Outside my window floated a tiny cloud.

Not a huge storm cloud.

Not a fluffy white cloud.

Just one little cloud…

about the size of a beanbag chair.

It wore what looked suspiciously like a tiny blue bow tie.

“Are…”

I whispered.

“…you wearing clothes?”

The cloud puffed itself proudly.

“I like to look professional.”

I blinked.

“Clouds wear bow ties?”

“Only for important meetings.”

“What meeting?”

The cloud gasped.

“You mean…”

“No one told you?”

“Told me what?”

The little cloud floated closer.

“The Cosmic Complaint Committee!”

“The what?”

“The Cosmic Complaint Committee.”

“We meet every Thursday.”

I blinked.

“But…”

“It’s Tuesday.”

Cloud 9 froze.

“Oh.”

He looked up.

Then down.

Then over both fluffy shoulders.

“Well…”

“That’s true.”

“So…”

I asked.

“What are we doing today?”

Cloud 9 smiled nervously.

“Today’s just…”

“…introductions.”

“And…”

“…orientation.”

“And…”

“…rules and regulations.”

He scratched the top of his fluffy head.

“And…”

“…uh…”

“…cloud stuff.”

I raised one eyebrow.

“Cloud stuff?”

“Yep.”

“Very important cloud stuff.”

“Like what?”

Cloud 9 thought hard.

“We’ll…”

“…probably have snacks.”

I smiled.

“You have snacks?”

Cloud 9 puffed himself up proudly.

“Absolutely.”

“The Moon always brings Moon Pies.”

“The Sun brings Sunshine Lemonade.”

“The Rainbow brings Skittles.”

I gasped.

“The Rainbow brings Skittles?!”

Cloud 9 whispered…

“Technically…”

“…she just brings the colors.”

I laughed so hard I almost fell off the cloud.

“So…”

I asked,

“What do YOU bring?”

Cloud 9 grinned.

“Cotton candy.”

I blinked.

“Clouds ARE cotton candy.”

Cloud 9 froze.

He looked down at himself.

He gasped.

His fluffy little eyes got HUGE.

“WE ARE???”

Cloud 9 spun around in circles trying to look at his own back.

“I’ve been a cloud for over three thousand years…”

“…and NOBODY told me??”

Just then another cloud floated by.

Cloud 9 shouted…

“DANNY!!”

The other cloud stopped.

“Yeah?”

“ARE WE COTTON CANDY??!”

Danny shrugged.

“I always wondered why kids wanted to eat us.”

Cloud 9 looked back at me.

“…This explains SO much.”

I tried to turn my attention back to the meetings asking.

“You have meetings?”

The cloud looked horrified.

“Of course!”

“How else would the Universe stay organized?”

I scratched my head.

“I kinda thought…”

“You all just floated around.”

The cloud laughed so hard he accidentally rained on himself.

“Oh, that’s adorable.”

Then he cleared his throat.

“I am Cloud Number 9.”

“You can call me 9.”

“Cloud Number 9?”

“There are eight before you?”

“And twelve after me.”

“Wait…”

“There are TWENTY-ONE talking clouds?”

The cloud smiled.

“Thousands.”

My jaw dropped.

“Seriously?”

“Oh yes.”

“We’re very…well…”

He looked around proudly.

“…cloudy.”

I could not help laughing.

“So…”

I asked,

“What exactly does this committee do?”

Cloud 9 looked shocked.

“You REALLY don’t know?”

I shook my head.

He floated closer.

Lowered his voice.

“You know how humans complain about everything?”

I nodded.

“Homework.”

“Bedtime.”

“Vegetables.”

“Exactly.”

“Well…”

He smiled.

“So do we.”

“The Sun complains?”

“Every Tuesday.”

“The Moon?”

“Every other night.”

“The Wind?”

“Never stops.”

“The Rainbow?”

“Mostly high spirited.”

“The Stars?”

“They think nobody notices how hard they twinkle.”

I stared.

“The FLOWERS complain?”

Cloud 9 laughed.

“They mostly complain that bees don’t wipe their feet.”

I burst out laughing.

“You’re kidding.”

“I wish.”

He leaned closer.

“Last month…”

“The Ocean complained because whales sing off-key.”

“The Mountains complained because hikers keep climbing on them.”

“The Trees complained because squirrels never say thank you.”

“And the Volcano…”

Cloud 9 shivered.

“We don’t let him speak first anymore.”

I laughed so hard my stomach hurt.

“Is this real?”

Cloud 9 nodded.

“Oh yes.”

“The Universe has feelings too.”

“So…”

I asked quietly.

“Why am I here?”

Cloud 9 smiled.

“Because…”

“The Committee voted.”

“They did?”

“Unanimously.”

“They chose you.”

“Me?”

“Why?”

Cloud 9 grinned.

“Because every universe…”

“…needs one human who still believes impossible things are possible.”

He turned toward the stars.

“The meeting starts in five minutes.”

I looked down.

Way down.

At my neighborhood.

Then back at Cloud 9.

“I’ve never ridden a cloud before.”

Cloud 9 smiled.

“Don’t worry.”

“We’ve been practicing.”

He floated beside me.

I took one deep breath.

Stepped onto the softest cloud I had ever imagined.

And together…

we floated toward the stars.

Toward the place…

where the entire Universe gathers…

to solve its biggest problems…

on…

Cloud Number 9.

…To Be Continued…

Raaji and the Clouds That Refused to Rain

One morning Raaji is waiting for his school bus again.

The Flower Council looks nervous.

Blue Flower whispers:

“Something is wrong.”

Raaji looks up.

The sky is full of gray clouds.

But the clouds are just floating around… grumbling.

The clouds again complain, more loudly

“We’re tired of being blamed for ruining picnics!” “Everyone groans when we arrive!” “No one appreciates rain!”

Raaji sighs.

“Let me guess… you’re going on strike.?”

The clouds puff up proudly.

“Correct.”

Days pass.

No rain falls.

Soon:

flowers droop trees begin drying out gardens struggle

The Flower Council gasps.

Red Tulip:

“This is bad.”

Purple Flower:

“Very bad.”

Yellow Flower:

“Motion to panic?”

Raaji meets with the clouds.

“Listen, rain doesn’t ruin things.”

He points to the garden.

“Rain helps things grow.”

The clouds look down.

Clouds notice the thirsty flowers.

Blue Flower calls up to the clouds:

“We love YOU RAIN!”

Red Tulip:

“Rain is how we drink!”

Purple Flower:

“Without you, we disappear.”

The clouds go quiet.

Raaji continues explaining to the clouds.

“Sometimes the most important jobs aren’t always popular.”

The clouds think about this.

Finally, clouds agree.

“Maybe we should rain… just a little.”

Soon gentle raindrops begin falling.

Raaji finally gets on the school bus.

The rain begins FALLING.

The bus driver groans:

“Great… RAIN.”

Raaji laughs.

“Trust me. The flowers are happy.”

Outside the window the Flower Council cheers.

As Raaji stares out the bus window, he sees two rabbits hopping through the grass.

One rabbit lifts UP her ears and looks toward the clouds.

Raaji whispers:

“Nice timing.”

The little rabbit twitches its nose, hoping along.

…The End…