Once upon a time, far above even the thickest layer of clouds, there was an ocean that no one down below had ever known existed.
Its water was as clear as glass. Its waves didn’t crash on any shore — they simply rose and fell in the open air. And the whales that swam within it moved their fins through water, yet could also fly on wings.
A boy named Little Cloud heard strange sounds every night as he lay on his rooftop — something like waves, though the sky held no storm; something like a deep cry, though it belonged to no animal he knew.
One night, he climbed higher than usual, all the way up to a small peak behind the village.
The clouds drifted unusually low that night, and without realizing it, Little Cloud stepped onto one.
It was soft as cotton, and it held his weight.
The cloud carried him upward, through the layers of mist, and when he broke through to the other side, Little Cloud saw an ocean without any edge at all.
A whale as large as a mountain swam past him, letting out a deep, low call that echoed straight into his heart. Its golden eyes looked at him with gentle warmth.
Little Cloud sat on his cloud and watched the whale swim back and forth for a long while — not afraid, not in any hurry, simply present in that moment.
When the sun began to rise, the cloud carried him back down.
Little Cloud walked home with a quiet peace in his heart unlike anything he had felt before, as if he had touched something far greater than the world he knew.
And from that day on, whenever he saw a cloud drift by, he would raise his hand and wave — just in case a whale above was looking down and could see him.
Moral: The world is far bigger and more wondrous than what we can see and know. There are still countless marvels waiting to be discovered. Stay curious and full of wonder about the world — it is one of life’s greatest driving forces.
