The Day the Wind Disappeared
Little Snip Snip had a friend. His name was Baby Cloud.
Baby Cloud was small, white, and very fluffy.
He could make himself enormous when he was happy and very small when he was frightened.
When he was really frightened, he could make himself small enough to fit inside Little Snip Snip's deepest pocket.
Baby Cloud spent quite a lot of time in the deepest pocket because he was frightened of many things.
But Little Snip Snip wasn't.
She was curious about almost everything.
She had short brown hair, large brown eyes, brand-new red shoes, and a house with geraniums near the windows.
Together, they loved to fly above the Emerald Hill, across the Wide River, and around the Old City, looking for things that Little Snip Snip found curious.
Little Snip Snip never wanted to stop flying with Baby Cloud. But because she was a small girl, she sometimes got tired during their adventures.
Then Baby Cloud would make himself extra soft, and she would curl up on top of him like a pillow.
One afternoon, Baby Cloud was floating above the Emerald Hill.
He wanted to visit Little Snip Snip.
They had plans.
Little Snip Snip had bagels and strawberry jam ready for their adventure.
Baby Cloud never ate bagels. He never ate strawberry jam either. But he loved the smell of warm bagels and ruby jam, and the way Little Snip Snip was always covered in it from head to toe after lunch.
He was just about to float down towards the House with Geraniums. He could even see it from the sky, like a little brown button with red dots peeking through the green below.
But something was wrong.
He wasn't moving.
Baby Cloud waited.
Nothing happened.
He puffed himself up.
Nothing.
He made himself long and thin.
Still nothing.
Baby Cloud looked around.
The trees weren't moving either.
Not even one leaf.
The Wind was gone.
This was a problem.
Baby Cloud knew many things about being a baby cloud.
But moving without Wind wasn't one of them.
He looked down at the little house.
It seemed very far away.
Then Baby Cloud looked up at the Sun.
Maybe the Sun could help.
"Mr Sun! Hello, Mr Sun!" Baby Cloud called politely.
The Sun did not respond.
"HELLO!"
"What?" said the Sun.
He sounded very important.
Baby Cloud thought about the deepest pocket and how good it would be to sneak into it right about now.
But he needed to be brave if he wanted to get to the House with Geraniums.
"I need to get to Little Snip Snip's house."
"So?"
"There is no Wind."
"I can see that."
"Can you drop one of your yellow rays down and push me towards the geranium window?"
"No," said the Sun.
"Why not?"
"Because I am far too busy shining."
Baby Cloud looked at the Sun.
It did seem to be doing quite a lot of shining.
"What should I do?"
"Go and find the Wind yourself."
So Baby Cloud looked everywhere he could.
He called out to every little cloud he could see.
"Have you seen the Wind?"
Nobody had.
He asked a long, thin cloud.
"No."
He asked three tiny clouds travelling together, holding on to one another.
They didn't know either.
Then Baby Cloud saw an enormous Grey Storm Cloud.
Baby Cloud wasn't sure he wanted to ask him.
He really needed the deepest pocket now.
But Little Snip Snip was waiting.
And there were bagels and strawberry jam.
So he gathered all his courage.
"Excuse me," said Baby Cloud politely. "Mr Grey Storm Cloud, have you seen—"
CRACK!
The enormous cloud burst into lightning.
Baby Cloud hurried away.
"Thank you!" he called.
It was always important to be polite.
Even when others weren't particularly helpful.
Soon the Sun disappeared behind the Emerald Hill.
The sky grew dark.
Baby Cloud was completely alone with the faraway stars and Mrs Yellow Moon.
He still hadn't found the Wind.
Baby Cloud was tired.
"I'll try again in the morning," he decided.
Then he closed his eyes.
And fell asleep.
While Baby Cloud slept, he floated lower and lower into the valley.
Lower than the Emerald Hill.
Lower than the treetops.
Lower still.
He floated over Little Snip Snip's garden.
He floated over the geraniums.
And eventually Baby Cloud settled around Little Snip Snip's entire house like an enormous ball of snow.
Baby Cloud didn't notice.
He was fast asleep.
In the morning, Little Snip Snip woke up.
Something was wrong.
She couldn't see through her windows.
Everything was completely white.
Little Snip Snip pressed her nose against the glass.
Still white.
"Has someone painted my house with milk?" she wondered.
She looked again.
Then she had an even more worrying thought.
"Or is it winter already and I didn't notice?"
This was serious.
Little Snip Snip's winter coat wasn't ready.
She opened the front door and carefully stepped outside.
It was warm.
It was soft.
And it was very, very white.
Little Snip Snip looked down.
She couldn't even see her brand-new red shoes.
"Oh!" she cried.
"My red shoes have turned white!"
She took another careful step.
Everything was still white.
"Maybe Mrs Cow spilled her milk everywhere," Little Snip Snip said, "and now I'm at the bottom of the Milky Sea."
Her voice woke Baby Cloud.
"Little Snip Snip!"
Little Snip Snip froze.
"Who said that?"
"Me!"
"Who's me?"
"Baby Cloud!"
"Baby Cloud?"
Baby Cloud opened his eyes.
He looked around.
There were geraniums underneath him.
There was a chimney sticking through his middle.
And directly below him stood Little Snip Snip.
Baby Cloud blinked.
"Oh," he said.
"I found your house."
Little Snip Snip reached into the whiteness.
Her hand touched something wonderfully soft and fluffy.
"Baby Cloud! What are you doing here?"
"I don't know."
"You're covering my entire house."
Baby Cloud looked embarrassed.
"I fell asleep."
Little Snip Snip considered this explanation.
It seemed reasonable.
"Why didn't you come yesterday?"
"I couldn't find Mr Wind anywhere."
"Where did he go?"
"I don't know."
"Did you look for him?"
"Everywhere."
"Did you ask Mr Sun?"
"Yes."
"And?"
"He was busy shining."
Little Snip Snip looked towards the Sun.
"That sounds like him."
Just then, something moved.
One geranium leaf trembled.
Then another.
Little Snip Snip felt something touch her cheek.
Baby Cloud felt it too.
"The Wind!"
A gentle breeze slipped through the garden.
Baby Cloud began to lift.
First the chimney appeared.
Then the roof.
Then the windows.
And finally Little Snip Snip looked down.
Her shoes were red again.
"My shoes!"
Baby Cloud floated just above the garden.
"Come on, Little Snip Snip. Let's go flying."
"Wait!"
Little Snip Snip ran inside.
She found two bagels.
She found the strawberry jam.
She grabbed her sun hat.
She grabbed her small telescope.
Then she ran outside in her brand-new red shoes and climbed onto Baby Cloud.
The Wind carried them out of the valley.
They flew over the Emerald Hill and across the Wide River.
They saw tiny houses and winding roads.
They saw fields and forests.
They saw cows that looked no bigger than buttons.
Little Snip Snip suddenly pointed.
"Look! Mrs Cow!"
Mrs Cow did not look up.
Little Snip Snip stared at her.
Mrs Cow was mostly black.
But on one side of her body was a large white patch.
Little Snip Snip narrowed her eyes.
She looked through her small telescope.
The white patch had a very interesting shape.
It looked almost exactly like—
"Snip?"
"Yes?"
"What are you looking at?"
"Nothing."
Little Snip Snip looked at Baby Cloud.
Then at Mrs Cow.
Then back at Baby Cloud.
She would have to think about this.
They ate their bagels with strawberry jam high above the treetops.
Little Snip Snip laughed so much that she nearly lost her sun hat twice.
Eventually, she became tired.
Baby Cloud made himself extra soft.
"Lie down," he said.
Little Snip Snip curled up on top of him like a pillow, with her red shoes sticking over one fluffy edge.
For a little while, she slept in the sky.
Baby Cloud carried her gently over the Emerald Hill.
When the first star appeared, the Wind carried them back towards the valley.
Baby Cloud floated down beside the little House with Geraniums.
Little Snip Snip climbed off.
She was tired.
She was a little sunburned.
And she was very happy.
Then she remembered something.
She looked up at Baby Cloud.
"Baby Cloud?"
"Yes?"
"Do you know where you came from?"
Baby Cloud thought.
"No."
"Do you know who your mother is?"
Baby Cloud thought even harder.
"No."
Little Snip Snip looked across the valley.
Far away in the field, Mrs Cow was eating grass.
Her strange white patch was still clearly visible.
Little Snip Snip looked at the patch.
Then at Baby Cloud.
Then back at the patch.
"I have an idea," she said.
Baby Cloud looked worried.
Little Snip Snip's ideas usually meant they were about to go somewhere.
"Is it a good idea?"
"I think so."
"Do I need to be frightened?"
"I don't think so."
Baby Cloud became slightly smaller.
"Where are we going?"
Little Snip Snip smiled.
"To see Mrs Cow."
And that was how their next adventure began.
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