Counting Clouds

Kip was the name of a tiny, gray mouse,

Who lived under the stairs of an empty, white house.

It was surrounded by acres and acres of trees,

which were tall and strong, with colorful leaves.

A while he lived alone in that house

until one day, a pup called Toby moved in.

The bond grew quick between the pup and mouse,

and soon they’d be closer than anyone had ever been.

The mouse’s favorite activity above all was to eat-

strawberries and raspberries were his favorite treat.

He told the pup and sure enough,

Toby brought him fruit, veggies, and other healthy stuff.

The pup had big ears and a wet, rosy nose,

and fur that smelled like honey dew.

He loved to swim and tip on his toes,

and of course he loved to eat, which Kip loved too.

Every day they would climb, jump and run,

They’d scale up big hills, they’d always have fun.

Then after a long and adventurous day,

They’d lay next to a tree to soak up sunrays.

The tree was a willow on top of a mound,

It was grand and old and had a thick trunk.

They had their own special spot on the ground,

Everyday they’d doze there until the sun sunk.

When the sky turned pink, and then it turned red,

Toby knew it would soon be his time to be fed.

He’d run home with the mouse, and leave him outside,

He knew he’d meet him there the next day, the same time.

For a couple of years they’d run, jump, and play,

until one day, the mouse grew too old to keep up,

He felt really sad knowing that he had to say,

“My Time to play is up,” to the pup.

Toby sighed and hung his head,

sad about what his friend had just said.

Kip told him he’d still lay by the tree,

so they met up there, everyday around three.

Lying by the willow, they’d look up at the sky,

and talk about the sun, the stars, and the moon.

They would count all the clouds up high, floating by,

and fall asleep to the nightingale’s tune.

On one of those hot and summery days,

Kip came out of his house in a daze.

It was way too hot outside to walk,

so he told Toby to hurry up so they could talk.

“The walk to the willow is too long for me,”

Kip told him in a dishearted voice.

“Don’t worry old friend, I’ll carry you to the tree,”

the pup said giving Kip no choice.

He let him climb on top of his nose,

then when Kip sat down on his collar,  he rose.

“Hold on,” Toby smiled with glee,

and walked down the path that led to the tree.

A couple of days passed as such,

until one day the pup showed up at Kips door.

And Kip said that it was becoming too much,

and told him that he couldn’t do it anymore.

From that day on Toby'd lie in that hall,

and talked to Kip through his hole in the wall.

Toward the final days, the mouse slept a lot,

but suddenly there was a change in the plot.

It was late one long, October night,

when the pup laid down, but Kips door was locked.

He looked, but the mouse was lost from sight.

He tried opening the door, but it was blocked.

With a heavy heart he sniffed along the wall,

and walked past the stairs to search down the hall.

Neither sight nor smell would reveal Kip that day,

it was clear to the pup that his friend passed away.

No matter how new this chapter would be,

the pup would still walk the willow.

Every day that year he visited that old tree,

he’d lie down and use its trunk as a pillow.

No matter how cold, hot, or wet,

the pup would sit in the same spot where they’d met.

Kips’ smell was still a part of the ground,

and it felt like he was still there on top of that mound.

The clouds went about their usual routine,

just like nothing had happened, or changed.

The ground, however, seemed more green,

and the bright, pointed leaves stayed unchanged.

No matter how cold it got that year,

more and more flowers would start to appear.

Until the whole mound was filled,

with violets, roses and daphodills.

The willow was unlike all other  trees,

whose lives were snuffed by the snow.

They soon started to freeze and lost all their leaves.

While anything on the mound would continue to grow.

From all over the world people came to ponder.

Each day hundreds of them would come to stop by.

They all stood around the mythical wonder,

while Toby laid by the tree, looking up at the sky.

Scientists, alchemists, and some guy with a fiddle,

all tried to be the ones to solve this riddle.

But years later, no answer came to their mind,

which meant the number of people to visit would decline.

Over the course of that time the pup knew,

Kip was still there touching the ground from the sky,

and this in his heart he knew this to be true,

every time he looked up high at the clouds floating by.