Lena was like any normal teenaged girl. Her time was spent in school and with her friends, gossiping and trying to get boys to notice her. She had long out-grown dreams of fairies and castles in the sky.

Lena’s aunt and uncle lived in Montreal, and Lena flew out to visit them every spring break. She loved it there- Montreal with its old, cobble-stone streets, tiny shops, and street artists. As this year’s spring break approached, Lena’s anticipation grew. She was excited to see the city, the French-Canadian boys, and her quirky aunt and uncle.

Finally, school let out for a glorious week of freedom. All of the days on her calendar crossed off, Lena was packed and ready to leave. Her mother drove her to the airport, stopping for ice cream on the way. That was their tradition, and had been for as long as Lena could remember. Ice cream was imperative before or after any big event.

After polishing off a vanilla milkshake, Lena prepared to say goodbye to her mother. Since her mom was the only immediate family Lena had, goodbyes were tough, even though they both knew it was only for a week. Outside of the airport terminal, Lena was wrapped in a huge bear hug before she kissed her mother goodbye, told her not to have too much fun without her, and walked through the sliding doors into the airport.

Lena didn’t mind flying. She never actually paid the thought much attention. When they found out that she was traveling alone, the stewardesses always offered her extra attention. But Lena was used to the trip by now, and could take care of herself. She popped in a piece of gum to keep her ears from popping and dug in her bag for something to do for the next four hours. Her hand struck something unfamiliar in one of the pockets, and she pulled out a pack of peanut m&m’s. “Love you too, Mom,” Lena smiled before putting on her headphones and opening a magazine.

Three hours later, while Lena was listening to the soundtrack to Moulin Rouge, the pilot’s voice came over the P.A. system. Lena didn’t pay him any attention- she already knew they’d be landing soon. But before long, a stewardess tapped her on the shoulder and Lena looked up. The kindly face the stewardess put on could not disguise the anxiety in her eyes, and Lena grew a tiny bit worried. “Do you know-“

But whatever the stewardess was going to ask Lena was lost as everyone inside the plane heard a loud crunch, as though a giant had just bitten into an especially large, crunchy carrot, only a hundred times worse. Then an uncontrollable spinning. Lena’s last thought was that this must be what it feels like to be in a washing machine, before everything went black.

As she drifted in a sea of rolling, black waves, Lena was aware of an overwhelming sense of comfort. Her eyelids felt impossibly heavy, and she wanted to just melt into the softness of whatever she was lying on.

“Shhhh! She’s coming around!” a strange, musical voice entered Lena’s consciousness.

“Where did she come from?” A second voice asked, this one more curious.

“Maybe she’ll tell us when she wakes,” the first voice replied. Her curiosity piqued, Lena struggled to open her eyes. It was an up-hill battle, but eventually Lena was able to force her eyes open. A soft light illuminated the thousands of white spires and shelves. Where am I? Lena wondered groggily, her mind still trying to make sense of her surroundings. What happened?

“She’s awake!” the bright voice exclaimed. Suddenly, a face appeared above Lena’s. “Hello!” Lena just stared up in baffled wonderment at the girl above her. The girl’s wild auburn hair framed a face full of delicately perfect features and revealed her pointed ears. But the thing that puzzled Lena the most was the girl’s skin- she was pale blue! “You’re an awfully funny one, you know that?” the girl asked in her unassuming way, as though she was making an observation about the weather.

“Shh! Don’t mind Arya. She gets terribly excited sometimes. Are you feeling alright dear?” the musical voice asked. Lena was aware of a cool hand laid on her forehead.

“Lena. My name is Lena,” she murmured. Her tongue felt too big for her mouth.

“Lena, then. Do you think you can get up, Lena? It’s just that you’re sort of lying in the middle of someone’s cloud.” At that, Lena sat straight up, fear taking hold of her.

“A…cloud? But- that’s impossible! I couldn’t lie on- AAAH!” Lena was falling, falling though an enveloping white mist. It filled her nose and mouth until she was choking on it. She squeezed her eyes shut. So this is it, then? She thought. I’m going to die choking on a cloud. But suddenly Lena felt strong hands grip her arms on either side and pull her up.

“Where were you going?” the girl Arya asked as Lena coughed and spluttered upon breaking through the surface of the cloud, if that was indeed where she was.

“Going through clouds takes a little practice. Don’t worry, you’ll get the hang of it eventually,” the girl with the musical voice said. Lena looked at her; her features were much the same as Arya’s, but she was taller and had long, silver hair. Lena realized that the two of them were still holding onto her.

“Down you go, then,” Arya announced brightly. Lena tensed.

“No! Please don’t put me down. I’ll fall again!” she begged, gripping their arms as her panic returned.

“No, you won’t. It’s perfectly solid. You see?” Lena looked down and saw that Arya and the other girl were standing with their bare feet planted firmly among the swirling mists of the cloud. She tested her weight experimentally- the cloud held. She was still in a state of shock, but she gazed about cautiously.

They were standing in what seemed like a valley in the clouds. Mountains of white reared up on all sides, reaching into the perfectly blue sky. Sunlight dappled over the clouds, leaving some pockets in shadow and illuminating others. Smaller clouds drifted overhead, and mist swirled throughout the valley. It’s beautiful, Lena thought. It’s like another landscape, another world, all made of cloud. Out loud she asked, “Where am I, how did I get here, and who are you?”

The girls gazed at her with amusement in their eyes. “Well, you’re on the clouds, obviously,” the girls whose name Lena didn’t know began kindly. “This is Arya, and my name is Rhia. We have lived here, but how you came here is a mystery.”

“You mean, you live on this cloud?” Lena asked in disbelief. She really wished she had her bag of peanut m&m’s, just to have a solid reminder of her previous life.

“Not here, exactly. The clouds are changing every day, every minute. Each day brings new clouds- new lands to explore. No one day is ever the same.”

“We don’t actually live anywhere,” Arya elaborated. “We move with the clouds.”

“Okay,” Lena nodded hesitantly, trying to absorb these fantastic ideas that she had to assume were truths. “But why did I fall back there? Why can I stand here now and not fall through? How can anyone stay in the clouds and not fall to their death?”

“Do you believe that this cloud will hold up?” Rhia asked her.

“I…suppose so. You told me that it would,” Lena answered slowly, doubts crowding her mind. There was absolutely no scientific explanation that she could think of for what was happening to her.

“Exactly,” Rhia answered. “Come here.” And she and Arya took Lena’s hands and guided her to the edge of the cloud they were standing on. With each step they took, Lena became more and more convinced that she was going to fall through the cloud and land with a sickening thud on the ground below.

“Do you see that cloud right there?” Rhia asked her. Lena nodded. It was a rather small cloud hovering a good ten feet away from where they were standing. “Good. Now jump to it.” Lena stared at her, openmouthed in utter disbelief.

“I can’t do that! What if I fall? What if-“

“You won’t fall,” Rhia interrupted her. “You’re standing here, remember? Just trust us. Jump.”

Lena nodded uncertainly and inched forward. As she looked over the edge of the cloud, she caught sight of the ground far, far below. Her heart jumped to her throat as she saw the tiny patches of field and winding stripes of blue that she was certain to fall to if she jumped. She made a hasty retreat the where Rhia and Arya stood. “Now, what’s this?” Arya asked in indignation. “Just jump! You’ll be fine. Trust us.”

Lena closed her eyes. She had never really had to trust in anything before. Not on blind faith like this. She and her mother had never gone to church, and she’d never needed to believe in anything so seemingly unbelievable. What was there to stop her from falling straight to a grisly end? Absolutely nothing. Yet Arya and Rhia were adamant that she would make it. And she wanted to trust them. In her heart, she believed that she could do it. She took that tiny spark and sheltered it until it grew into a flame large enough to give her confidence. Then, Lena started running and jumped into the nothingness.

And landed in a plane seat. Lena opened her eyes. Her CD had run out, and a stewardess was standing over her. “We made it, dear. We’ll be landing in a few moments,” she said gently. Lena could only nod in amazement. She was fine, just like Arya and Rhia had said she would be. She’d taken the leap and landed safely on the other side.