“A magical flying horse” Sarah decided in an instant, as soon as she saw the cloud passing over her head. Sometimes it took several moments for her to decide what a cloud looked like, but not this time. She was quite sure that the cloud passing over her head was a magical flying horse. “His wings are sooo big”, she thought. The same breeze that trotted her flying horse across the sky brought the fresh smells of spring to the hilltop where she laid. Sarah spent most of her afternoons staring at the sky in a green meadow covered with wild flowers and butterflies. She loved to see what characters would parade across the sky each day. This day, the wind brought a horse. She followed her magical horse across the valley to the other side and there she saw a boy. He was watching the horse too. She waved to him and he waved back. The horse disappeared behind the mountain and Sarah and the boy went home.
The next day Sarah went back to her spot on the hilltop. She looked up at the sky and waited. Soon boy arrived across the valley. He laid on his back, looked up and waited too. Across the valley from each other they watched to see what the wind would bring. Each day it brought animals and funny faces. Every day the clouds were different.
Every day Sarah and the boy waved hello, watched the clouds and waved good bye. Sarah often wondered if the boy saw the same things that she saw in the sky. She was quite sure that he did. She loved having a friend to watch the clouds with; the little boy did too. At the end of the day they would wave to each other and go home. Sarah wondered about her new friend all the time and couldn’t wait to see him each day. It was her favorite part of the day.
One day Sarah went to her spot on the hilltop but the boy never came to be with her. Sarah wondered why he hadn’t come. Maybe he was sick or had extra chores to do. She spent the afternoon alone, but watching the clouds was not the same without her friend on the hilltop across the valley.
The next day was the same. The boy did not come to watch the clouds with Sarah. This made her very sad. She missed the boy and how he made her feel so happy. She was very sad. Many days passed and the boy did not come to see the clouds. Sara thought that maybe he didn’t like watching the clouds as much as she did or maybe he didn’t miss Sara as much as she missed him. She lay on the hilltop, alone, watching the clouds and she was very sad.
One day, to her great surprise, Sarah saw something that she never thought she would see again. It was the boy. He had returned to the hilltop and he looked very excited. He was jumping up and down and waving at Sarah. Sarah felt happiness in her heart again and she waved back to the boy. The boy was pointing up the valley that separated them. He was waving and pointing up toward the top of the valley. He began to run up toward where he pointed and he waved for Sarah to follow. Together, along the sides of the valley, they ran toward the top. They ran fast and the faster they ran the more excited they became. Sarah did not know why the boy wanted her to follow him, but she ran with him all the way.
The valley narrowed near its top. As Sarah got closer to the top of the valley she saw what they were running toward; a wooden bridge that crossed over the valley, joining the two hilltops. She ran as fast as they could to the bridge. When they got to the bridge they were out of breath. They both stopped for a moment and looked at each other and smiled. The boy came across the bridge. He looked at Sarah and smiled. She reached out her hands and he put them in his.
“Where have you been all this time?” Sarah asked the boy.
“I finished it as quickly as I could” the boy answered.
“You built this bridge?” Sarah asked in amazement.
“Yes, I built this bridge” the boy said proudly.
“Why?” Sarah asked.
“So that we could watch the clouds together” the boy said.
And together they walked down the hillside to the spot where Sarah liked to watch the clouds. They sat down next to each other and looked into the sky.
“That cloud looks like a heart.” Sarah said pointing up to the sky.
“Yes” the boy said, “just like a heart.”
