Head In The Clouds (Andrew)

The young girl would giggle to herself as she stared long upwards at the everlasting sky and all of the mystical and twisting clouds that all seemed to form into various different shapes and interesting things. Sometimes there even were clouds that really did look like the real thing and weren't just kinda maybe sorta like it and you had to squint with a tilted head and use your imagination a bit to see it! Callie loved doing things like this, it was one of the only activities that had her sitting still that she actually enjoyed, and East Eden was always the best place for it! Far away from all the busy noisy places and with no tall building to block the view! Just a wide open clearing surrounded by all of the pretty flowers that grew around here.

"Oh! Oh! You see that one? That one kinda looks like a cute little bunny!" The girl would say, pointing her teddy Lulu's arm up at the sky towards where the cloud in question was. It had felt like forever since Callie had brought Lulu out with her, especially as she never used to leave the house without her! Ever since Terra stop being lazy and woke up she just hadn't taken much time to think about it, but Lulu still needed some love so decided to bring her along on this cloud watching expedition! "You see it too, right?"

"Neheheh, you sure do have your head in the clouds sometimes don't 'cha Cals?" Terra would remark teasingly from within her mind, finding this whole idea of staring at the clouds in the sky a weird choice of activity to cure boredom. Yet, if it made her happy, he would usually join in just for the hell of it. "I guess it kinda does... Looks more like a sheep to me though. In fact, they all look like sheep! Neheh!"

Nobody was home this morning - Well, nobody who'd be waking up anytime soon anyway - so Andrew knew what that meant: It was time to sneak off and go play! East Eden wasn't exactly a district known for being chock-full of exciting activities to partake in, but Andrew wasn't willing to let that dampen his mood. Today was a beatiful day! Birds were singing, flowers were blooming... on days like these, kids like Andrew should be playing outside.


Andrew ran through the clearings, not too far away from the lodge where he spent most of his time together with his judgmental family. The fresh air and smell of the flowers planted throughout the area was enough to make the young boy smile with glee; but even if it weren't... the sunshine, cool morning breeze, and lack of tinnitus or sounds at all other than the chirping of birds and ocassional squawking of small rodents would ensure that he was happy anyway.


Andrew's head was so in the clouds, that he didn't notice the girl laying down in the same clearing he was running through. His singing was abruptly interrupted when he tripped over her and fell to the ground with a resounding *thud*.

"Owww..." Andrew groaned before standing up and looking down at the curious-looking girl. "O-Oh! 'M sorry! I wasn't lookin' where I was goin'!" He just hoped she wasn't mad at him.

"Well of course they all kinda look like sheep silly! Sheep a big white fluffy things just like all the clouds! The game is to try to find the more hidden ones!" The girl would say giggling as she tried to explain her little game to her shadow. It was such a shame that he didn't enjoy it as much as she did! She'd never had anyone do this with her that has actually been interested in finding all the hidden secrets among the sky. "Oh, look look! You gotta be able to see that big ol' grumpy face that cloud looks like it has!"

With her head so far up in the clouds, Callie barely even noticed the sound of someone singing getting closer and closer. She'd been lying down in quite tall grass so she couldn't even see over the grass to see that someone was heading her way. By the time her ears perked up to the sound from under her hood, it was already too late. "Oww!" Callie would sit up suddenly as she felt something kick into her arm and then tumble over her and land on the other side. She'd rub her sore arm gently with her other arm as she watched whatever it was that just fell over her get back to their feet. "Oh, no worry! I wasn't really paying attention myself, hehe, I should of heard you coming and said something!" Awwww! It was a little kid! She didn't often get to talk to other kids, they were usually always with their parents or someone much older, he was so short and cute too! "You didn't hurt me, don't worry." She'd assure him with a bright smile as she dusted off her arm. "Are you okay though? That looked like quite the fall!"

"Are ye sure you're okay? I kinda kicked ya in the side..." Andrew would avoid eye contact and twiddle his fingers as he said this, feeling guilty and ashamed at the act of clumsiness he'd just brazenly carried out. "Here, I can make it up to ya!" He said as he reached into the pocket of his shorts and rummaged around. Aftew a few seconds, Andrew pulled out a couple of pieces of wrapped strawberry candy. "I bought a bunch o' sweets yesterday and couldn't finish 'em all, so here! You can have 'em if you want!" He extended the hand holding the candies towards Callie and smiled. He was really hoping she'd accept the gift, but if she didn't he would insist, and if she refused once more he would frown a little before eating one of the sweets and pocketing the other.

"So, umm..." Andrew couldn't help but twiddle his fingers once more, this time around making eye contact. "What's yer name?" He asked in his thick Irish accent.

"Hehe, it does sting a little, but it's nothing to worry about. I'll be fine." And his accent too! Was there any way this kid could get even cuter than he already was? She doubted it, he was already way off the charts. Then suddenly candy was involved. Okay, he's won. Just won. "Thanks!" She'd say appreciatively, taking only half of the sweets from the boys hands and chewing into one happily. "We can share them, 'kay? Sweet things are always sweeter when you share them!" The girl would continue, a bright smile on her face as she picked herself up off of the ground finally to stand beside the boy.

"My name?" She'd repeat, half to give her a second to think as even simple questions her mind would go blank if they came out of nowhere and half because of his adorable accent making it a little difficult to hear some of what he was saying. "My names Callie, it's nice to meet 'cha! What's your name?"

“O-okay…” Andrew meekly replied, not wanting to turn down the girl’s kindness (Counterkindness? Kindness in response to kindness?... you get the point). In all honesty he hadn’t expected her to be so lenient about the matter; if someone had tripped over him while he was lying on the ground he would have been pretty angry. He gently took back the sweets that the girl gave back to him, put one in his mouth, and the rest in his pocket.

His name? It would be kinda rude to reply with a sweet in his mouth, wouldn’t it? He decided to just store the sweet in his cheek to speak. “Me name’s Andrew! Thanks for not being mad at me, uh… C-Callie!” Darn, for a second he’d forgotten her name. And she’d just told him, too!

Andrew put his hands behind his back, looked at the ground for a bit and kicked it, unsure of what exactly to say next. He still felt kinda guilty about having tripped over Callie, but it was apparent that no matter how much he apologized she’d say the same thing, and it could possibly even irritate her. If nothing else, Andrew felt a little awkward. In order to change the mood, Andrew decided to start a different conversation. “So! What were ye doing before… well, before I went into klutz mode?” He chuckled and rubbed the back of his head.

The girl would nod happily, glad the boy accepted her idea of sharing. Everything was always better when you shared it! That way you didn't feel guilty that you were having something sweet when someone else couldn't! "See? Now we can both enjoy them!" She'd say with a bright smile as she carried on nomming away at the sweet in her mouth, pushing it from one side of her mouth to the other to try and spread the taste of it around her entire mouth.

"Andrew?" She'd repeat, in her usual fashion of making sure she got someone's name right when she first heard them. It was always embarrassing when you hear it wrong and then end up calling them the wrong thing by mistake later on! "Of course I'm not mad, you didn't mean to do it! It wasn't your fault so I wont blame you!" She'd say with a reassuring smile, giggling slightly as the boy tried to remember her name. "Besides, it's kinda my fault for just lying out here in the middle of nowhere, hehe."

The young vixen would blush lightly when asked what she was doing, a little embarrassed by the answer that she was about to give. "I, uh... Was watching the clouds." She'd say, looking up and pointing at the clouds that hung above. "I like to relax sometimes and just lie back and watch the clouds fly by! Then I try to make a little game out of it to make it more fun, trying to spot out if any of the clouds look like anything else!" She'd explain before quickly scanning the sky before pointing out one lone cloud in particular. "Like that one! See, it kinda looks like the head of a teddy bear! Do you see it?"

Watching the clouds? That sounded like it could either be tremendously boring or incredibly fun; no in-between. In Callie’s case, since she made a game out of finding hidden shapes in the clouds, Andrew guessed it could classify as fun. He’d look up at the cloud at which Callie had pointed and tilt his head a little bit, squinting his eyes as well. “Uh… kinda? I see the ears ‘n the head, but where’s the eyes ‘n nose?” To him it looked more like a certain copyrighted mouse, or a water molecule! "Doesn' it look kinda like those drawings of water zoomed in lots?" He remembered reading on one of those big fancy science books at the school library that that’s what water looked like up close!

Andrew couldn’t help but chuckle. “Y’know, I was jus’ singing’ a song about clouds on me way here! D’you see any that look like a castle?”

"They're... Well, the left eye is kinda there if you look at it funny. Maybe its one of those worn teddies that's been used a lot but their owner refuses to get rid of 'em cause they're special!" Callie would suggest, pulling the idea out of thin air as she tried to make out if the cloud had another eye or nose. Although it didn't seem to be the case. "Though usually the clouds aren't perfect... Ya gotta imagine a little to add more detail yourself!" The girl would explain with a nod, before a tilt of her head as Andrew made his own suggestion of what the cloud looked like. "Water zoomed in? What do you mean?" She'd question confused, wouldn't water still look all shiny and see through and... How do you explain what water looks like? Uhm... It looked kinda... Well... Uhm... Uhhhh... God this was hard! W-well it didn't look like a teddy bear she knew that much for sure...

Callie would shake off the confusion and smile that the boy was trying to join in with ideas to the game. She'd never tried to look for something specific before! She just usually waited to see what random things would appear. "Hmmm... A castle, huh?" She'd stick her tongue out slightly as she concentrated on the sky to see if she could spot any signs of a castle floating up there. Suddenly she'd throw her arm up into the air and point off to the left at a quite long and thin cloud that was lying on its side with a lopsided triangle like shape on one end. "Lookie! That one is lie a tower that's fallen onto its side! Towers are kinda like small castles right? Or... Uhm... Are apart of castles or something..."

“Y’know, like… uh… actually, never mind.” Andrew would laugh heartily. He could officially call himself smarter than somebody who was older than him. It felt great! Though he felt it should’ve been expected that out of the two children at the scene the swimming prodigy would’ve been the one with more knowledge about water. When Callie pointed at the cloud that looked like a leaning tower, Andrew tilted his head and squinted his eyes. “Well uh… I think they’re just two different things, but… “tower” works with the song ‘s well!” Andrew would smile before an idea graced his brain. He’d stand a few feet in front of Callie and begin to sing.

♫ There is a tower on a cloud,
I like to go there in my sleep,
Aren't any floors for me to sweep,
Not in my tower on a cloud. ♫

After finishing the verse, Andrew would replenish the air in his lungs and wait for Callie’s reaction. "Y'see? Now it's a song about a tower!" He thought he sang pretty well, but hearing other people’s opinions was always fun, even if they didn’t really like it! It let him know he had to get better!

"The song?" The girl would question curiously, which song was he even talking about? He never made that very clear and she hadn't heard him singing originally when he first approached as she was too distracted in what she was doing. "I thought towers were apart of castles, no? They're like on the corners of it or what not! B-but either way if it works that's cool!" Callie would say with a smile as she watched the boy preparing to... W-wait was he going to sing to her?

The girl would giggle happily after the boy shared his song with her. "Hehe, that was great! You're a real good singer ya know!" The young vixen would say with a nod of her head, it was super adorable to listen to too! "So the songs meant to be about a castle? What kinda castle would be up in the clouds? That doesn't sound like that'd work... Not very well anyway? That sounds really neat though. It'd be cool to see something like that!"

Andrew couldn’t help but blush; he always did whenever somebody complimented his singing voice. “Thanks! I try to practice lots, but I don’t really get the time…” The sentence slowly slid from glee to mild disappointment, but not full-blown sadness. “Well uh… ‘m not very smart-like, but I think I’ss supposed to be about a girl using her imagination, not an actual castle. D’you get what I mean, like?” Andrew rubbed his arm idly as he spoke. “Kinda like how me and you are doin’ to look at clouds, right?”

Suddenly, another bright idea would float into Andrew’s head. Man, he was on fire today! Not literally though, that’d be very bad… “I know! How ‘bout we switch hobbies? Try makin’ up a song!” If Callie showed uncertainty or hesitation, Andrew would grab her by the wrists and look at her while smiling, excitement and expectation filling his eyes. "C'mon, it's easy! All ye hafta do is talk about whatever to the rhythm! Here, I'll give ye a beat." Andrew would let go of Callie's wrists and begin to clap at a slow pace, giving Callie an easy beat to follow.

"Ohh! Yeah I know what you mean. I like to use my imagination to think of cool and interesting places and thing to do all the time!" The girl would reply with a nod, she especially enjoyed using her imagination to make up stories! Which were even more fun to do when someone was listening and helping make up other parts of the story too! Sometimes the stories becomes really random, but they're still super fun and usually end up really funny! "Yup! You can't see things in the clouds if ya don't imagine them! The clouds are just the rough image of the thing, the rest you gotta make up yourself!"

"U-uhm..." Callie would smile awkwardly, feeling slightly uneasy about the idea Andrew had suggested... She'd never been a very good singer, or at least she never enjoyed singing in front of people. It was one of the only things that scared her to do in social situations. "M-make up a song...?" She'd say sheepishly, trying to buy out time or somehow wish that the question would make the idea go away... "I, uh... I wouldn't even know what to sing about..." Her brain was too stunned by the sudden request to even know how to begin, she kinda hoped he'd just laugh it off or at least help her get started.

Andrew didn’t really know how to respond to Callie shying away from the idea. She’d seemed so energetic up to this point that he just frankly didn’t even expect her to shy away from it. Regardless he’d follow through with the idea, determined to show Callie how fun it could be to sing, even if you’re not any good at it! “Here, I’ll help y’out! I’ll start a song, and you jus’ continue it! We can use the melody from the last song I was singin’!” Andrew drew a deep breath, and prepared himself for song.


Andrew couldn't help but laugh at how bad that last line was. Hopefully it'd get a laugh out of Callie like it did him, at least. "Now you try!"

Callie couldn't help but giggle at the boys song, she still found it cute when he sung and especially as he made the song about her, yet she was never really sure why the thought of singing scared her. It had done in the past as well, it was weird. B-but she'd try her best! "Hehe, okay, okay, fine. I'll give it a little try, just don't laugh at me if I screw up! I haven't practiced singing in, like, forever!" She'd explain, standing to her feet and picking up her teddy Lulu to hold close to herself to keep her from feeling as silly.


The girl would pull her hood further over her face in embarrassment as she finished singing, squeezing her teddy closely to her chest and laughing awkwardly. "Hehe... U-uh... H-how'd I do?"