Ice, Stairs, Sky

Barry was a bear laying on his back and looking up at the sky. It was very cold outside and the sky was gray, but it wasn’t threatening. In fact, Barry thought, for a gray sky this one actually looked pretty good. Very serene, very calm.

Barry didn’t want to move. He just wanted to lay here and stare up at the sky until someone came by and forced him to move, probably because of some inane trespassing laws. Even then, Barry thought, “Ideally someone would come by with a wheelbarrow, pick me up off the ground, place me into the wheelbarrow, and then wheel me away," all while Barry kept looking up at the gray sky that somehow looked so nice today. In the winter, a gray sky seemed to make more sense than any other sky you could see. Barry was lost in it.

Barry was loving the tranquility and peace, he wasn’t sure how long he had been laying there exactly but it was clear that second he laid down he was done with his day. He just wanted to be alone with his thoughts and the sky.

But his dream was about to be shattered when right next to him, with a loud, LOUD, thud, landed Rosie, a raccoon.

“What the hell was that?” Rosie yelled.

“I think I can help with that,” Barry answered, were you coming down those stairs just above where our heads currently are?”

“Yeah”

“Yeah, those stairs are completely iced from the ice storm last night.” Barry continued, “If you’re like me, you’re not going to want to move for a little bit.”

Rosie didn’t know if she was like Barry, but she did know that she just beefed it hard down an icy flight of stairs. And now she was lying flat on her back. Staring straight up at the sky. A gray sky. A gray sky that...

“Hey is it just me or does that sky...” Rosie started.

“It’s not just you, it’s gorgeous isn’t it?”

“It sure is,” Rosie said, as she stared deeper and deeper into the tranquil stillness of the cold, austere, gray winter sky. “I never want to move or be moved.”

“Welcome to the club.” Barry commiserated.

The two stared up at the sky some more. They watched as the clouds shifted and moved but never made a dent or difference in the gray color. The placid late afternoon winter was slipping away, much like both Barry and Rosie had done earlier on the stairs. It really was a fascinating gray sky.

Then, in an instant, another thud came down beside Barry. This time it was Constance, a crow.

“What the hell just happened?” Constance squawked, surprised.

“Ice.” Barry and Rosie replied.

“Is that what happened to you guys too?” Constance asked.

“Yes.”

“Well then what are you doing? Why don’t you get up?” Constance wondered, annoyed.

Rosie and Barry looked at each other knowingly. Rosie decided she would take the lead.

“Hey Constance, look at that!” Rosie pointed at some arbitrary spot in the sky. What difference did it make where you looked when you're gazing at beauty.

“I don’t see anything. What are you talking about?” Constance yelled. But, as she continued looking up at the sky something occurred to her, “Hey, is it just me or is the sky...”

The three were lost in the clouds together. No one was going to move. Not for a long time. The afternoon would last forever. It was an endless winter.

From across the park, a member of the maintenance crew could see these three laying on the ground. Looking at the sky. He shook his head knowingly, “Ugh, this again,” grabbed a wheelbarrow, and began walking towards the stairs.