The big blue pond sparkled brightly under the gentle morning sun, reflecting green reeds along its edge.

Dax the little duckling loved to spend his mornings watching the endless, inviting sky above him.

Dax: “Hello, fluffy white clouds up there!”

He waddled to the very edge of the pond, tilting his tiny head way back to gaze upwards.

A particularly soft-looking, billowy white cloud drifted slowly and peacefully right over the pond.

Dax: “Oh, you look so wonderfully bouncy and soft!”

Dax: “I wish, oh I wish, I could truly reach you!”

Dax: “How can a little duckling ever get up there so high?”

He flapped his tiny, developing wings with all his might, quacking with determined effort.

His little webbed feet only splashed the pond water, sending small ripples across the smooth surface.

Dax: “Oh, my wings are still much too small for flying!”

Dax felt a small, wistful sigh escape him as the cloud remained out of reach.

Mama Duck swam closer to Dax with a slow, comforting ripple, her gentle eyes observing him.

Mama Duck: “What seems to trouble my sweet little duckling today?”

Dax: “Mama, I truly want to touch that soft, wonderful cloud!”

Mama Duck gently nudged his yellow beak with her own, offering a soft, reassuring quack.

Mama Duck: “Clouds float very, very high in the wide blue sky.”

Dax: “But I truly want a special sky friend to play with!”

The soft, white cloud began to drift away slowly, moving gently across the clear blue expanse.

Dax: “Oh please, kind cloud, don't go away, please stay!”

Mama Duck: “Perhaps, my dear, it truly hears your hopeful little call.”

The cloud, whom Dax named Nimbus, paused its journey and lowered a wispy, trailing tail.

Nimbus: “Hello, hello, little duckling friend.”

Dax: “You truly heard my little wish!”

Nimbus gently dipped a soft, fluffy edge even closer, almost touching the pond's surface.

Dax: “Oh, you are so wonderfully cool and breezy!”

Dax carefully stretched his neck and gently poked the moist, soft cloud with his beak.

Nimbus: “And you, little Dax, are so wonderfully warm.”

Dax: “We are the very best of friends now, Nimbus!”

As the sun began to slowly set, the entire sky turned deep purples, sleepy oranges, and soft pinks.

Dax snuggled happily into Mama Duck's warm feathers, dreaming of Nimbus and the twinkling stars.