A modest change to a story I wrote a few years ago:

The kite hung on the back wall of the family garage. Most days it just sat there. Perhaps you might find it sad to be there so day after day in the dark. But for the kite, it was more more like half awake—- only vaguely aware of what was going on, or not going on, around it. It would come to life, as it were, when taken out into the world. The family loved to go to the park on warm breezy days. On this particularly fine kite-flying day, they went to the park and launched their kite into the air. Some days, the kite could barely keep itself off the ground. Others, it would soar with ease. These were glorious occasions. This day, the wind caught the kite and shot it upward, as if it was under its own power, into the skiy. The kite truly felt alive, as it was quickened by the breath of the sky.

The kite looked around in wonder and thrilled at the twists and turns it could make while tethered to the ground. The kite was very happy. It was a couple of hundred feet up, yet it seemed like miles. But then he noticed them.

They were big fluffy white things going by above it. The kite had noticed them before, but these were drifting so near. The kite thought to itself, “Soaring like this is great, but look at those things. They have nothing tethering them to the ground. They go wherever they like. They do whatever they want to do. I am stuck here as they see the world.”

As more line was let out, it got closer to some of the clouds. It could see that the gusts of wind that would send them twisting— pulling off wisps of cloud and fling others together.

“What a joy it would be,” thought the kite, “to be so uninhibited. Oh, I wish I were so unconstrained. But I have these sticks that force me to stay one shape, and I have this tail that forces me to stay pointing up.”

The kite began to wonder whether they were things at all, or like the unpleasant smoke that came from the family car that would would look like a cloud at first, and slowly fill the garage before fading away. But what car could be big enough to send out smoke like this? But maybe being like smoke would not be so bad.

It watched further and saw one cloud come its way. It was lower than most of the rest. It soon became clear that the kite was going to be hit by this cloud. It did not know whether to be excited by the prospect or terrified. It had hit the ground a few times before, and did not like it. What did it feel like to be struck by one of these big white things?

Then it hit. Well, it did not really hit, more passed around the kite. It was amazed to find that it could hardly feel the cloud. It was like smoke, but different— gentle and rather pleasant. It was a slightly damp, yet feathery caress.The cloud continued on past as if the kite was never in its way.

“Wow! What a rush!” said the ecstatic kite. “Wouldn’t it be great to be so unaffected by one’s surroundings. I have to worry about trees, power lines and the ground. I am also forced to fly only at the whim of the one who holds my line. But they have no worries like that, they don’t answer to anybody or anything. Oh, I wish I could be like that.”

Sometimes wishes come true sooner than one would ever dream. In this case a gust came along and the extra tug caused the string to snap at the knot. In an instant the kite was free. However, before the kite could really begin to appreciate this new-found freedom, it sensed lack of stability in its flight. The wind began to toss and twist it violently and it soon found itself plummeting to earth. However, the kite never made it to earth. It hit the upper branches of a large oak tree. There it stuck with its crossbars broken, tail ripped off, and sail torn.

There it stayed for months as the elements broke its body down. Now, however, it rarely watched the clouds. Rather, it would love to dream as it watched kites dance in the sky.