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I’d like to say I lived a good life. I had a good job and a loving family, and while I hadn’t found love, I was seeing this nice girl who I had met during grad school. Unfortunately, that all changed when a truck barrelled into me. I didn’t even have time to react. I was on my way to my engineering class when I tripped over a rock, falling onto the street. I only had time to realize the irony of being hit by a truck while on the way to learn about how to fix the engine of a semi truck. So there I was, dead at age 22.
I don’t remember much of the judgment process. Apparently, I was judged to be a good man, but I never went out of my way to do anything kind. I had helped out at a few shelters and charities during my life, but that was mostly so I could get community service hours and get into a good university. I didn’t hear his final judgment, but it didn’t take a lot of guesswork considering where I woke up next.
“Apparently I’m a cloud,” I grumbled as I floated along the open sky, thousands of my kind drifting in different directions. Surprisingly, none of them seemed sentient. If being a cloud was one of the verdicts, wouldn’t more people be around?
My thoughts wandered as I continued to drift along in the endless sky. Not having limbs was weird at first, but I was quickly adapting to my situation. It felt quite nice to be a cloud. I felt light and I could still feel the gentle breeze on my… skin? I sure as hell wasn’t calling my skin “water vapor,” so I decided to go with skin. Not having limbs had its perks too. That itch on the back of my knee was gone and I would never have to experience it again.
Still, it’s weird that I haven’t seen anyone yet, I thought to myself. The sun didn’t seem to move even though I was confident that I had been floating around for hours by now. I understood that heaven was supposed to be this bright, pearly utopia, but how did anyone get any sleep?
Well, whatever, I thought to myself as I did a little barrel roll in a vain attempt to entertain myself. I wasn’t feeling tired at all, in fact, I felt like I’ve been brimming with energy the entire time I’ve been here. “I’m sure I’ll find someone eventually.
I had no idea how long I had been gliding through the endless skies of heaven, but I was at my wit’s end. It was just clouds as far as the eye could see, extending forever. Part of me wondered if this was my own personal hell. To be deceived into thinking you have salvation, only to wander for eternity trying to find it seemed like a pretty cruel torture to me. I sighed as I stopped. For the first time in what felt like hours, I stopped.
“What’s the point in all this?” I asked aloud. It’s not like anyone was around to hear me. “If no one is here, maybe I should just sit here. I’m sure I could set up some sort of shelter. Live a happy life here doing absolutely nothing.”
I sat there, waiting for an answer I knew wasn’t coming. I sighed as I looked downwards, inadvertently tilting my entire body downwards with me.
“I just don’t want to be alone anymore,” I said, my voice cracking a little. I could feel my entire body grow heavier as I felt little shocks across my body. I heard the sounds of soft thunder and saw rain start to fall below me.
“I can’t even cry properly,” I said to myself bitterly before returning to my silence. After a couple minutes, I heard the sound of wind whistling. I looked around, spinning a couple times, hoping beyond hope that the wind signified that someone was coming.
“Am I hearing things?” I muttered. I squeezed my eyes shut, praying to whatever god ruled this place that someone was coming. The sound of wind grew louder until I felt a gust of wind blow upwards, threatening to throw my nonexistent weight up into the stratosphere.
“My, what’s a little thing like you doing all the way out here?” I opened my eyes when I heard a soft and gentle voice talk to me. I almost gasped when I did. Looking straight at me was an angel. Hell, even if she didn’t have those large wings behind her, the woman’s tender green eyes, her silky smooth navy hair cascading down her back, and a smile that threatened to outshine the sun just screamed divinity.
“Are… are you real?” It was a weird question to ask, but after so long without seeing so much as a single person, I had to make sure I wasn’t hallucinating or something. Could clouds even hallucinate?
“Of course I’m real, silly,” The angel placed a hand on my head, or what should be my head. Her hand covered about a quarter of my entire length, gently rubbing the fluff as if it were solid. It felt… nice. It reminded me of when my big sister brushed my hair as a child. For some reason, the sound of a hairbrush always lulled me to sleep.
“I’m sorry,” I immediately looked away. Fortunately, I didn’t have the ability to blush anymore, because I would have been a tomato if I could. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen someone.”
“Oh, you poor thing,” The angel pulled me closer into a hug. “You must have been searching for days. It’s so cruel for someone to be sent to the edge of heaven and be forced to find the center.”
So that’s why I couldn’t find anyone, I thought to myself as I looked up at the woman. Her embrace was warm, but that was to be expected from a literal angel. “I don’t know how long I’ve been searching… I’m so happy to see someone else.”
“Not to worry, my little cloud-tomo,” The woman brushed my head with her hand as she looked into my eyes with the smile that my older sister had on her face whenever she tucked me into bed as a child. “My name is Nene Amano. You won’t ever have to be alone again.”
“Thank you,” I said. Vapor started to gather around me and I started to grow ever so slightly. I knew I was crying, but for some reason, it wasn’t raining. Maybe there’s a difference between happy crying and sad crying?
“You’re very welcome, little one,” Nene’s smile widened as she adjusted her grip to accommodate my new size. “Now, let’s go home.”