The Cloud Painter

In the mountains of Japan, there lived a boy named Hiro who loved to watch clouds. Every day after school, he would lie on the grass and imagine what the clouds looked like. "That one looks like a dragon!" he would say. "And that one is a giant turtle!" Hiro's dream was to become an artist, but his paintings never looked as beautiful as the clouds in the sky. One day, an old woman with silver hair sat beside him. "You have the gift of seeing," she said. "But I can't paint what I see," Hiro said sadly. The woman smiled. "Would you like to learn the secret of the Cloud Painters?" "Cloud Painters?" Hiro asked. "Yes," she said. "Long ago, artists learned to paint with the wind and sky. Follow me." She led Hiro to the top of the mountain. There, she gave him a special brush made of bamboo and silk. "Now, paint in the air," she instructed. Hiro felt silly, but he tried. He moved the brush through the air, painting invisible pictures. As he painted, something magical happened - the clouds began to change! They formed the exact shapes he was painting! "How?" Hiro gasped. "When you paint with your whole heart, the world listens," the old woman explained. "Your gift isn't in painting on paper. It's in painting dreams in the sky for everyone to enjoy." Hiro practiced every day. He painted cloud animals for sick children to watch from hospital windows. He painted cloud flowers for people who missed spring. He painted cloud rainbows after storms. People from all over came to the mountain to watch Hiro's cloud paintings. They would lie on the grass and dream together. Hiro learned that art isn't just about what you create - it's about the joy you share with others. And sometimes, the most beautiful canvas is the sky itself. Now, when you see a particularly beautiful cloud, maybe it's Hiro painting dreams for you to enjoy!