SLY PASSENGERS

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 780, 28 September 1929, Page 33

SLY PASSENGERS

(Second prize story) | Some little drops of water were j playing together in the deep blue sea, j when suddenly they felt themselves ! being drawn up into the air. Up, up, ! into the clear blue sky, drawn by the sun's warm golden rays they went. “Oh, how lovely it is up here/’ said one little drop of water. “Now we shall see the world,” said j another. ? “Why, we are turning into cloud- | babies. Are'nt we lucky?” cried a third in astonishment, i The sun smiled kindly at them. “I • am sending a little breeze,” ho said, • “to waft you away through the sky, I so that you can see the beautiful world t below. That is where I send my • golden beams to,” he said. The cloud-babies laughed joyfully. “Oh, thank you, thank you,” they cried, as a little breeze came rustling along and blew them lightly across the sky, until they were above a C.UI where little children were playing picking the w r ild flowers which grew there. One of them looked up at the little white fleecy cloud sailing slowly through the sky. “It looks like a little sailing boat floating on a blue, blue sea,” she cried. “Look,” said another - child, “it is going straight toward that high mountain over there in the distance. I hopo we will soon have a little shower of rain to water the flowers in my garden.” The cloud-babies laughed at this. “Perhaps you will,” they said. “We j have to fall to earth as rain-drops sometime or other, and this little breeze might blow us against the mountain soon.” 4 Just then the fierce north wind came blustering up. “Out of my way, little j breeze,” he roared. “It is my turn to | blow this cloud away. Be off with : you.” | The breeze quickly rustled away in fright. “What is going to happen to us now?” cried the cloud-babies, as the wind whirled them along before him. “I wish he would go away from us and let that dear little breeze come back.” They clung to each other and sobbed. At last the north wind grew tired of them and went away to find some more little cloud-babies to frighten. Worn out with sobbing the babies fell asleep, and the breeze came softly back and blew them gently toward the mountain. They awoke, startled, to find themselves falling down to earth as rain drops. “Goodbye, little cloud-babies,” called the breeze. “Good-bj'e, and thank you for the lovely ride,” they cried as they fell pitter-patter on the flowers and plants below. Then they sank into the warm earth and fell asleep. —Creina Mosse. aged 13.