CLOUDS
My name is Oscar, I’m 11, and I live in the clouds!!!
I don’t mean I’m a daydreamer, no, I mean I literally live up in the clouds. When you see those grey clouds floating super high above you, there is a good chance me and my mum can see you. We are cloud walkers! We are assigned to a certain cloud, and when it moves with the wind, we must move with it, and if we don’t…
We can be lost forever! It’s every walker’s worst nightmare!
And today it happened to me!
All because I am OBSESSED with trains! You’re thinking, “But Oscar, why do you love trains if you can walk between clouds?” Because sometimes, I feel like I’m always chasing a never-ending destination. Trains, on the other hand, always have a final stop.
Today, whilst my legs were swinging from the edge of the cloud, watching everyone below, I was obsessing over the Southern train going through London Bridge because it had a seagull perched on its roof, and it was making me laugh. That cheeky bird was catching a free ride! Whilst giggling at the bird, I missed the cloud alarm, which gives us a 5-minute warning that we must get ready to walk, as our cloud is about to move.
Luckily, my mum realised that I wasn’t at our meeting point and knew exactly where I would be. So she put her walker shoes in sports mode and started running to get me. I can see her running, so I start running towards her, but as we unite, it’s too late, and the cloud we are on vanishes beneath our feet, and we both start hurtling down to Earth!
Uh-oh!!!
We fly past planes, birds, and even lamp posts. I brace to thud and splat on the pavement, but mum shouts and reminds me that we are cloud walkers and we can shape-shift.
So before we become pancakes, mum and I form into two humans holding umbrellas, and it braces our fall. PHEW!
Mum looks around nervously, trying to get her bearings, but I know exactly where we are. We are at BLACKFRIARS station; I look to the right and see Tower Bridge shining in all its sunny glory. How exciting!
Mum is frantically looking up at the sky, trying to read the weather and work out where our sets of clouds have gone, but right now the central London sky is a bright blue. Great for everyone taking selfies, not great for us!
I should be frantically looking as well, as I got us in this mess, but all I want to do is get on the big, impressive train that is on this platform. I’ve never been on one before.
Surrounded by excited tourists, mum is now looking at a futuristic notice board on the platform. It says the train times, but more importantly it says the weather in lots of locations in England. Mum points at the board to Lewes, which has a giant cloud emoji next to it. ‘That’s where we must go!’
The train gods must have heard our wishes, because the big, impressive train currently sitting on the platform is the one that we will get on! I grab mum’s hand and we quickly board the train before the doors close. I have the biggest grin on my face.
I’M ON A TRAIN!!!
Mum tells me when we get to Lewes, we’ll have no time to sight-see. But what mum doesn’t understand is, the only sightseeing I plan to do is on this magnificent train. We find two seats and I smush my face up to the window, watching the city fly by.
At East Croydon an old man gets on the train, he sits next to me and mum, but he seems sad, so I ask, ‘are you ok?’. I find out the man is called Laszlo, he tells us that he woke up late and was meant to be at his daughter’s birthday picnic an hour ago, and to make things worse, he left his wallet at home, so he is going to turn up to the picnic empty-handed and very late. Laszlo huffs. I feel bad for him.
Maybe everyone on the train can help Laszlo? Mum tells me not to get involved, but before she can finish her sentence, I am standing on the train seat pitching to everyone to see if any of the passengers have any food they can donate.
At first, everyone just stares at me like I am bonkers. Maybe mum was right, maybe I shouldn’t have gotten involved. I go to hide in my oversized seat. Then one arm shoots up holding some olives, then a second arm with a chocolate bar, then a third, a large sandwich. I collect it all for Laszlo, and to top it off, a woman with a newspaper wraps it all up in a bouquet to make it look like an expensive hamper. Laszlo beams.
Going around collecting this hamper nearly made Mum and I miss our stop. We quickly jump off the train at Lewes.
The first thing we do is look up at the sky, and to our surprise, there aren’t any clouds; they must have already moved on. Mum starts to worry, and so do I, whilst being a human for the day is awesome, if we don’t make it back to our cloud, we could be stuck as humans forever. Less awesome!
Mum asks a passerby to check the weather on their phone, and the person with a big smile says, ‘it’s looking cloudless in Lewes for the rest of the day’. They say the clouds are travelling towards Brighton.
Mum and I look at the departure board, we have thirty minutes till the next train. All I can think is that we need to use this time wisely, and we can’t just sit here worrying.
So I grab a leaflet that says things to do in Lewes. First stop, we see the stunning castle, which I obviously pretend I am the king of! Then we look around at the cool antique shops, and we even manage to get a lovely cupcake from a coffee shop! I haven’t been in Lewes long, but I already want to come back.
We hop on the train to Brighton, and speed through more stunning countryside, and even a giant viaduct which is SO COOL! I’ve never been to Brighton, but I can tell everyone is excited to be going there. Eavesdropping on the conversations near me, I hear they are famous for their fish and chips.
YUM!
A lady called Julie with a mermaid tattoo on her arm says the best fish and chips are at a place called The Regency. I look to mum, giving her my best puppy eyes, ‘can we please get food from there?’, but mum says, like she always does, ‘Oscar, we won’t have time.’
We get off at Brighton station, and it feels like the whole world is getting off the train, ready for a day at the pebble beach. Mum and I run out of the epic Brighton station, hoping everyone is just wearing sunglasses in a hopeful attempt to will the sun out. But to our disappointment, it’s beaming over everything in sight.
That means one thing: there are NO CLOUDS.
NO CLOUDS means we can’t get home.
I feel REALLY bad. If I hadn’t missed the cloud alarm, we wouldn’t be in this situation. I turn to mum and give her a cuddle. ‘I am so sorry we may be stuck on Earth forever.’ Mum turns to me and smiles for the first time on this journey and says, ‘well if we are, at least I am stuck with you! Right, shall we get some fish and chips?’. My mum is the best!
Mum and I go around asking all the friendly people in Brighton directions to The Regency fish and chip shop. We find it, and we get the best table in the whole place, facing the sea with the sunshine pouring down on us. Whilst all the customers around us are enjoying the hot rays, Mum and I’s cloud particles are floating up to the sky, and we can feel our human form solidifying. It feels weird and a little bit sad.
But suddenly…
As I slurp up the last of my mushy peas, the best thing happens. Well for us… the clouds swoop in and rain pours down over everyone in Brighton. Mum and I whoop with joy, while people duck and dive to take cover.
One thing I LOVE about the British weather is you never know when the clouds are coming back! Mum and I pay up, and we finally cloud walk up to our house in the sky, after the best day on the trains ever!
As we rest on our cloud, Mum tells me how much she loves travelling with me because I find the joy in every journey I go on, and she tells me she wants to go on more train rides, but the next one must be planned!
I smile and look down at the trains that go in and out of Brighton station, and it hits me, travelling on the train today was just like how we travel in the clouds. Super comfortable, super-fast, and super fun!!
THE END
About the author
BAFTA-nominated screenwriter and children’s author Nathan Bryon (Rye Lane, Look Up!) has partnered with Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) to source inspiration for his new short story, Clouds, which celebrates how easily creativity can be unlocked by travel.
New research from GTR reveals two in five UK adults say that travel inspires creativity, and in light of this, Nathan travelled on a journey across the network from London Blackfriars to Lewes and Brighton to fuel his imagination. The announcement of Nathan’s story coincided with GTR’s new value ads, which spotlight the incredible value across the Thameslink and Southern networks.
Clouds is creatively born from Nathan’s own journey, drawing on his real-life experiences - from exploring castles to enjoying fish and chips!