THIS IS A STORY. Nothing on this page is true, except the clouds.If clouds worry you, please don't let them. Look up. They're fine. They were always fine. That's the ending; you're allowed to know it first.

WHAT THE CLOUDS ARE HIDING

case file opened by Agent Nimbus — not a real agent; a person with a notebook, binoculars and a lot of free afternoons

EVIDENCE BOARD

Exhibit A. A cloud shaped exactly like another cloud. Coincidence?
TOP SECRET

They are always moving. Where are they going? Nobody asks. I asked. Nobody answered. The answer is "east, mostly."

REDACTED
Exhibit C. 2:00 p.m.: cloud. 2:15 p.m.: no cloud. Where did it go? (Elsewhere.)

Clouds are made of water. Water is see-through. So what are they hiding BEHIND the water? the sky is fine really, it is

CLASSIFIED

WEATHER, TUESDAY: "Partly cloudy."

WHICH PART?? They never say which part.

Mort, who runs the Countdown, says clouds aren't on his checklist. His checklist has 212 items and not one of them is the sky. Interesting.

(He says item 1, "call your mother," covers most weather. I've called her. She says the clouds are fine.)

W.A., who keeps the night journal, says the creature they watch is not in the clouds. W.A. would say that.

W.A. also says I should come and sit by the lamp one night and look at the sky with them. That is exactly what someone who knew something would say. I'm going on Thursday.

FROM A SCIENCE BOOK FOR CHILDREN: "A cloud is a lot of very small drops of water floating together."

"Floating together." Organised. I rest my case. (it is a very good book)

TIMELINE OF THE INVESTIGATION

  1. Day 1. Looked up.
  2. Day 3. Looked up for longer.
  3. Day 9. Bought binoculars.
  4. Day 10. The clouds moved slightly to the left, as if aware.
  5. Day 40. Climbed a hill to get closer.
  6. Day 41. Still not close enough. Sat on the hill. It was a nice hill.
  7. Day 63. A gentleman with a rock on a string (a weather station, he says) told me his rock has never seen anything suspicious. His rock has a 100% accuracy rating. I don't trust any source that's never been wrong.
  8. Day 88. Got on an airplane. Window seat. Went INSIDE one. It was more clouds. Then it was more clouds. See File 7.

REPORT A CLOUD

Seen a suspicious cloud? Report it below: where, when, and what shape. All reports are taken seriously, by which I mean I'll go outside and look.

WHAT THE CLOUDS ARE HIDING · a story by Agent Nimbus · nothing here is true except the clouds, which are lovely