The Cloud

 

There is an ominous cloud of green smoke on the bike trail in front of me.  Because of the thick brush on each side of the trail, going around the smoke isn’t an option, and as I can’t tell from here how much further down the path it extends, I have no idea if I can hold my breath that long.  I don’t really think I want to breathe that stuff in. 

The slight breeze didn’t appear to be pushing the smoke at all.  It seemed unaffected, which made no sense.  The more I thought about that, the more I wanted to avoid whatever this was.  On the other hand, I couldn’t just stand here and wait for it to go away.  I climbed back onto my bike and took a deep breath and held it.  I started peddling and leaned forward over the handlebars, hoping to keep a low profile.

The moment I broke into the cloud I could hear thousands of different conversations all going on at the same time, and I was pushing through all sorts of texts and emails.  Words and paragraphs just hanging, suspended in the air.  They all simply moved as I hit them.  Was this the cloud that everyone was talking about, the place where all information goes?  It was quite eerie being inside of it.  This isn’t some information superhighway, it’s a stupid bike trail.  What was going on?

 I was still peddling as fast as I could, but I could no longer hold my breath.  I exhaled and the instant I took a breath I found myself back along the old familiar path, no green smoke, no voices, or hanging messages.  I looked behind me and it wasn't there.  There was nothing but the bike trail.  I couldn't believe what had just happened, and for sure, I wasn't going to mention it to anyone.  They'd lock me up.

ZC