Clouds

Recess.

Creola runs to me, anguish on her face.

"I don't want to be out here."

"Why?" I ask.

"I'll be hittin' her if I stay here. They be saying stuff behind my back, it just ain't right..it ain't right."

"What are they saying?"

"They be sayin' that I ratted them out 'cuz they be flippin' gang signs on the bus." she replies. Her body is agitated. Her hands start shaking. Anxiety seeps from her as she paces back and forth.

I interrupt, "hey Creola, look up at the sky. Doesn't that cloud look like a dragon?"

Her eyes glaze over as she looks at the sky. Her body stops moving, swaying. "Yeah yeah, I see it" she says, smiling and giggling.

"What does that one over there remind you of?" I ask.

"A big juicy shrimp, I like shrimp" she says, still giggling.

"Let's watch the clouds roll in, shall we?"

"Yeah, yeah..." her voice trails off, eyes vacant and lost.

I watch her watch the clouds. If only I could put her on one and let her drift away from this life.