Celeste was a little cloud, fluffy and white. But Celeste had a problem – she couldn’t sleep! All the other clouds were drifting peacefully, turning shades of pink and purple as the sun set. But Celeste just bounced and wiggled. ‘I’m too excited!’ she’d puff. ‘There’s too much to see!’
Old Man Nimbus, a very wise and very large cloud, floated nearby. He chuckled, a rumbling sound like distant thunder. ‘Little Celeste,’ he boomed gently, ‘sometimes the best thing to do is *nothing* at all. Try to feel your fluffiness. Feel how light you are.’
Celeste tried. She wiggled a little less. She tried to feel her fluffiness, but she noticed a little bird zooming past. ‘Ooh! A bird!’ she called, and bounced again. Old Man Nimbus smiled. ‘It’s okay to notice things, Celeste. But don’t *follow* everything with your energy. Let it float by, like a feather on the breeze.’
Celeste watched the bird disappear. She took a deep breath, a big, cloudy breath. She felt the warm air around her. She noticed a tiny star beginning to twinkle. It was very far away, and very peaceful. She tried to copy the star’s stillness.
‘It’s hard,’ she whispered. ‘I want to *do* something!’
‘You are doing something,’ Old Man Nimbus said. ‘You are learning to be calm. You are learning to let go. Imagine all your wiggles and bounces are little bubbles, floating down, down, down to the world below.’
Celeste closed her cloudy eyes and imagined it. Little bubbly wiggles floated away. She felt herself becoming softer, quieter. She noticed the gentle rhythm of the wind, rocking her back and forth. It felt…nice.
She thought about all the wonderful things she’d seen that day – the green fields, the sparkling river, the children playing. She didn’t need to *do* anything with those memories. She could just *hold* them, warm and cozy inside.
Slowly, Celeste’s edges began to blur. She wasn’t bouncing anymore. She wasn’t wiggling. She was just…being. A soft, fluffy, sleepy cloud. Old Man Nimbus smiled. ‘That’s it, Celeste,’ he whispered. ‘Sweet dreams.’
And Celeste, finally, drifted off to sleep, a peaceful little cloud in a peaceful night sky. She knew that even when she woke up, she could always find her calm place, just by remembering to breathe and let go.