Marvin and the Cloud

Everybody on the sidewalk looked happy except for Marvin. People smiled and laughed and giggled. They basked in the light of the big cheery orb in the sky and felt happy that they were alive.

Marvin dragged his feet. He did not feel happy to be alive. Every step was a struggle. Each tinkling sound of laughter that met his ears triggered a chiming migraine in his head.

Some people were starting to give him looks. He was not fitting in very well with the joyful scene of mirth that surrounded him. One man, plastered grin in position, pulled out his mobile reporter.

A few minutes later, the Warning appeared.

“Mister Marvin,” the Warning said, after he had thrusted his blue cylindrical body through the throngs of cheerful citizens, “I am the Warning. Reports indicate your Happy Levels have dipped dangerously low. Please adjust accordingly.”

There was no ultimatum. It was just always implied that very not nice things would happen to you if you did not heed the Warning.

Marvin hung his head. He nodded in understanding so that the robotic thing would leave him alone.

People were giving his very pointed looks now. They kept smiling, but there was disgust behind those eyes.

Marvin tried to smile. He told the corners of his lips to stretch upward. Of course, he would near a mirror to really check, but he decided it was passable enough.

He kept walking and smiling. He had finished his work at the factory and was now supposed to be strolling home. It was a nice day. He was, like everyone else, supposed to be enjoying it.

As he swung one unhappy foot in front of the other, Marvin suddenly noticed a peculiar looking shadow moving along the sidewalk. Marvin turned around and looked up.

There was one lonely looking cloud in the sky. It was not white and it did not resemble the cheerful wisps of the cotton candy variety that usually peppered such sunny days. This cloud was dense, dark, and unhappy.

Marvin hoped it would go away before someone reported it. He turned around and kept walking.

The shadow kept moving along the sidewalk. It strayed not more than a few inches from Marvin’s own shadow.

Marvin whipped around.

“Oy, what’s up?” he hissed at the cloud. “You can't be here! Shoo!”

“But I don’t want to ‘shoo’,” a childlike voice emitted from the cloud. “I want to stay with you.”

“You can’t!” he whispered back, trying to ignore the very disgusted looks he was getting from his fellow pedestrians. “You gotta get out, you hear! They might not even send you the Warning. They’ll just exterminate you!”

“Well, that’s not very nice.”

Marvin rolled his eyes. Not the sharpest cloud in the knife drawer.

“Where’ve you been? Atmospheric conditions, wildlife growth, animals, and humans are all under the jurisdiction of the Happiness Act. If you’re not acting right, they send you the Warning. And if you’re still not acting right, they exterminate you! It’s the law!”

The cloud trembled and shook. There was a weird clanking nose, and then the darkness dissipated. The cloud was now a rather dull shade of white.

“Is that better?” it asked sulkily.

“Yeah, it’ll do. Now just float off somewhere! You’re giving me unwanted attention, and I’ve already received the Warning for today.”

“I know how to get out,” the cloud said in a small, squeaky voice after Marvin had already turned away, “Don’t tell anyone, but I do. I just don’t want to go alone.”

“You can get out?”

“It’s not too hard when you’re a cloud,” it said rather sheepishly, “My brother, Cumulus Marvin, did it ages ago. He sends letters to mum and the family every now and again. No one else wants to go with me, though. They like it here. I don’t.”

A small roll of thunder grumbled sadly within the little cloud. His dull shade of white was darkening.

“Well . . . I don’t like it either,” Marvin said, trying to ignore the people that were pulling out their mobile reporters, “But can I come with you? Because I might be in a fair amount of trouble in a few minutes.”

“Of course, you can come!!!” the cloud shouted exuberantly, “That’s why I was following you – because you looked sad, like me!”

Marvin saw the twin robotic cylinders of the red Extermination Force coming up the sidewalk. He shuddered in fear. It was particularly disturbing how everyone else kept on smiling.

The cloud swept down and enveloped him in a moist fog. Marvin felt a weird floating sensation.          

“You can look out now,” the cloud said a couple seconds later.

Marvin poked his head forward.

They were flying! Far below, he spotted the confused extermination robots. Several faces were upturned, gazing at the cloud that had kidnapped a person, and Marvin imagined that more than a few them had jealousy hiding behind their smiling eyes.

“We’re going to a place where you can be sad anytime you like!” the cloud bursted, “And people get angry or they get in a bad mood and no one kills them! Doesn’t that sound grand!”

Marvin agreed that it did.

And then a funny thing happened. The cloud unconsciously casted off his dark attire. He shone a bright white that brilliantly reflected the sunlight. His dense, sharp edges turned soft and wispy. He had become a happy cloud because he was truly happy.

Marvin felt the warm breeze in his air and watched as the landscaped zoomed past beneath his eyes.

He felt the corners of his mouth twitching upwards. A tickling feeling was bubbling up within his chest. A chuckle erupted from his body.

Marvin and the cloud giggled together. As the borders of the land of mandatory happiness slipped by, they felt true happiness seeping in.