Crashing Clouds
Matt Jackson over at www.msjx.org has started a daily eight-minute writing drill aimed at developing the habit of writing at least a little bit every day. This sounds like a good habit and, especially as I draw closer to Lent, it sounds like something I ought to participate in. So, here’s my first effort on the prompt “Crashing Clouds”. I ended up with about 280 words in about eight minutes.
The Master’s Method
“Crashing clouds?”
“You heard me,” the master said.
“That doesn’t make sense. Clouds can’t crash. They’re made of nothing.”
The master smiled. His student drew no comfort from that smile. It held no warmth, but instead was full to the brim with icy condescension.
“How can something be made of nothing?”
“What?”
The master smiled more broadly. “You heard me.”
The student bit his bottom lip and tried to maintain eye contact, but the master’s gaze seemed to have weight. Holding it was too heavy a burden, and the student’s eyes dropped. The student knew the master would sit and smile and wait silently as long as it took for an answer. Silence loomed.
“I guess something can’t be made of nothing,” the student said. “Every thing is made of something.”
“Correct.”
“But it still doesn’t make sense. For things to crash into each other, they have to be solid. They have to be able to…to crash.”
The master’s smile relaxed. He leaned forward slightly. “I disagree.”
The student wanted to respond in kind, but he knew better. The master had a lesson to teach, but he fully expected his student to suss out the answer on his own. More silence followed the master’s last syllable. He watched the student, his face a mask showing no emotion. Several minutes passed. The student gasped.
“If two clouds crashed into each other, they’d join each other. They’d both change shape, growing larger, and then maybe they’d split apart again, but neither one would be the same cloud. By crashing into each other, each changes the other.”
“So too with those you meet even in passing,” the master said. “Now, report to the yard for afternoon practice.”
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