Far, far away, beyond the seas and mountains, in the kingdom of Sky (next door to the Sun and Moon) lived a little child — a Cloud, whose name was Puffik. He was very cheerful and carefree. Puffik loved to walk across the sky with his kind and gentle mum — Cumulus Cloud and his strong big dad Thunder, who loved him very much.
Often the three of them would travel across the whole sky and admire the magical nature.
One day Puffik flew out for a walk without his parents. He was happy and delighted to look down from above at such small children like himself. They were laughing and rejoicing in the beautiful sunny weather. But suddenly Puffik felt sad. He wanted to rejoice carefree with them in the sunshine, catch sunbeams, run and play hide-and-seek. And he decided to approach them to make friends.
Hello, my name is Puffik, I live in the sky. Let's play together. I would like to be friends with you.
What can you do?
The children asked.
I don't know.
Said the Cloud in confusion.
Can you play tag?
The children asked.
No, I can't.
Answered the Cloud.
What about ball?
Ball?
The Cloud asked again.
Oh, I can't do that either, I don't have hands like you do.
So what will you play with us?
The children asked in bewilderment.
You can't play anything. No, we won't be friends with you. You're not good, you block out the sun for us.
Said the children.
You're not like us, and you won't be able to play with us. Go away, we won't be friends with you.
The children repeated once more. And the Cloud flew away. It felt terrible. It felt unwanted and abandoned.
Nobody loves me. Nobody wants to play with me, I can't do anything. Why am I not like these children?
It sobbed through its tears. It wanted to fly far, far away so that nobody would see it.
If nobody loves me, then why do I need to be here, why do I need to live. And my parents probably don't love me either, they just feel sorry for me because I can't do anything, nothing works out for me.
Thought little Puffik. So the cloud drifted across the sky for a long time until it flew into a desert, where it became so sad that it cried even harder, and its little tears, falling bitterly to the earth, formed a beautiful blue lake. And the cloud kept crying and crying until it heard the voices of animals and birds, plants and trees. These voices, coming from the earth, thanked it for quenching their thirst and filling them with new life.
And at that moment the little helpless cloud with a beautiful and tender name Puffik understood that it too could do something, that it meant something in this life and could bring joy to those around it. And most importantly — it understood that it loved everything around it, and felt that it was needed by someone, that it was loved, awaited, and relied upon.
From all of this it suddenly felt very happy and light. All the animals and birds began to praise the little Cloud:
Hurrah for the Cloud! You are the best Cloud in the whole world! You are so beautiful, light and fluffy, we love you very much and want you to be our friend!
They cried out. Puffik was happy! He flew back to the meadow where the children who had hurt him were playing. But he was no longer upset with them, as he had understood so much. The sun was shining, it was very hot and everyone wanted summer coolness. Then Puffik decided to please everyone and poured a gentle summer rain on the earth. The children jumped with delight in the puddles and stretched their hands to the Sky. And then they saw in the Sky that very same little Cloud that had brought them such joy.
Dear Cloud. Don't go away, let's play hide-and-seek with you. Let's be friends with you!
They cried out.
For little Puffik this was the greatest reward for his efforts. He understood that you just need to try — and then you will definitely find many good friends.
The sun was shining, the weather was beautiful, a little white fluffy cloud drifted happily across the Sky, and below on the grass the children ran, trying to catch their new friend. They circled for a long time in a ring dance and sang their favourite songs to Puffik.
Key phrase:
I'm not like everyone else. Nobody wants to be friends with me!
Discussion questions
Why did Puffik think that nobody loved him?
What made Puffik feel happy and light? What did he understand?
Has anything like this ever happened to you?
