[ Description enhanced with the help of JSK244 ]

The blue sky opens itself to me, far and wide a sea of blue. The land below a picture of tranquil tones, nature lush with green plant life and sparkling water. I drift along in my hot air balloon, surveying it all, drinking in the wonders before me. Cast in any direction the wind takes me, only my tiny burner letting me rise higher and lower to see more that the world has to offer. I hadn't yet drifted into the clouds above, a new sea for me to float inside of, nervous and yet excited, hesitating to see all of below before I do. But my hand rises to the little rope and tugs finally, and the hiss of flame of gas takes up and into the white clouds.

I swim in the white waters and have no idea where I am. They grow thicker and denser, light fading even as I maybe pass a growing storm front. Everything is damp like morning dew now and it tickles my eyes, but when I rub them clear I see a light above and ahead, and I break free to the new world of the heavens. The clouds form new landscapes and towering monuments, my little basket skimming the waters of the lowest clouds. Awed and amazed, I reach over the side and dip my hands into the surf, where my fingers gently part the clouds and brush the soft white fur below.

... Fur? Was I wrong? Could it be...?

Looking to the side, I gasp and duck down in shy surprise. It was the Mother Goddess, the guardian of this world and so many others! The sunlight behind me shining off of her, letting her glow and shimmer with the faintest of colors all across her pristine white fur. Her red eyes, so striking and powerful, were as warm as the sun and her smile just as gentle. She blended so well into the sea of clouds, only her most striking of features standing starkly against it, the curls and swaying swirls of her fur making it seem as if the clouds were born from her instead of hugging to her frame. It was breathtaking, a true symbol of how she was the goddess of Life itself. It holding her as she often did it in embrace.

With a gentle motion, her hand arose like an island out of the sea, clouds pouring from around her fingers as she offered me a place by her side. Uttering not a word, but the invite was clear, and I gently coaxed my balloon down to land and step upon the mattress of her palm. Looking up to her, a mountain who moved to gaze on me lovingly, she spoke not with thunder but the softest gusts. Welcoming me as her child, asking me how I was, her fingers curling some to block the wind from stealing my balloon away. I felt at once so tiny and yet so important. She saw all Life as her own blood, but to be addressed so directly, my heart fluttered with nervous energy. I answered, and we talked, time losing all meaning as she doted and cared for me. Growing all at once more incredible, and impossible, for who could ever be this sweet and kind to a mortal like me when her role was for all things on this world and in the heavens?

But she called me by name, and asked to be known by hers. The Goddess Kami spent hours with a tiny mortal until the sun began to wane, when shadows dimmed and her own blessed markings glowed to banish them. Lifting her hand up closer to her face, she wished me a safe travel home, to land below safely and to take care of myself. Heartbroken at having to leave her side, she washed those sorrows away when next she moved and placed me by her heart. Gently hugging me and sinking me into her blanket of warm fur and fluff, she said that all life, no matter how big or small, was important to her. She would happily see me again, if I but look to the heavens or even call her name. I would never do so out of greed, and maybe she knew that. For with a gentle kiss and a soft blow of her breath, she sent me back into the sea of clouds, where I gently drifted down and back to the land below.

When she vanished from sight I sighed, and then smiled with the memories that forever filled my heart now. Until next time, Mother Kami!

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Kami (and Alef) ©  Alef-GP


Artwork ©  Alef-GP