Tom and the Cloud Whale

Tom loved boats. There were boats on his pyjamas. There were boats on his pillow. And every night, before closing his eyes, he whispered: "One day, I'll be a captain."

But that night, his bed began to rock gently. Then the blanket puffed up like a sail, the pillow became a helm, and whoosh! The little bed flew out of the window, straight towards the clouds.

"Ahoy, Captain Tom!" boomed a big, soft voice. Swimming in front of him was an enormous whale, white and fluffy, made entirely of clouds. "My name is Cumulus. And I'm in great need of a captain tonight."

Tom adjusted his nightcap like a sailor's hat. "Captain Tom, ready for adventure!"

Cumulus carried Tom way up high, to the land of the clouds. But something was wrong. The clouds, usually so plump, were flat and sad. The sky gardens, where rainbows grow, were starting to wilt.

"Here is our trouble, Captain," Cumulus explained. "The clouds have forgotten the rain song. Without the song, no rain. Without rain, no more rainbows, no more puddles to jump in with both feet, no more little drops on the windows to lull children to sleep."

Tom frowned, like a true captain studying a treasure map. "And nobody remembers it? Nobody at all?"

The clouds shook their big white heads. And that's when Tom felt something tickle his memory. A song he knew by heart, without ever having learned it…

Tom closed his eyes. He thought of rainy evenings, all warm under his blanket, when the drops drummed on his window. And very softly, he began to sing: "Plip… plip… plip-plip-plop…"

A little cloud pricked up its ears. "Plip… plip…" it repeated shyly. Then a second one, then ten, then a hundred! Soon the whole sky was singing the rain song, and the first drops began to dance down towards the earth.

Down below, the gardens drank in great gulps, the rivers applauded, and a brand-new rainbow stretched across the sky with a yawn, as if waking from a very long nap.

"Thank you, Captain Tom," whispered Cumulus, setting him down ever so gently in his bedroom. Tom snuggled under his blanket. Outside, the rain was tapping on the window: plip, plip, plip-plip-plop. His favourite song. And that is how Captain Tom fell asleep, rocked by the loveliest lullaby in the world — the one he had given back to the sky.