The Troublesome Cloud is a four-act, illustrated poetic allegory. Using a rich tapestry of rhyming prose, and a rough-around-the-edges crosshatch art style, the book tells a whimsical, yet somber, fable about a melancholic creature and its struggles to escape from an unrelenting storm cloud.
Throughout the story’s sixty illustrated pages, readers are taken on an “epic-ish” journey – across wastelands, forests, mountains, deserts, oceans, and cityscapes – as the oft-thwarted, ever-persistent, protagonist attempts to leave its tenacious companion behind.
On the surface, The Troublesome Cloud is a fantastical story about an absurd creature’s misadventures through desolate locations. But, if one looks closer, the text also reveals a surprisingly relatable tale about the very real experience of dealing with, and attempting to find a way through, unexpected change.
Click on the links below to purchase the Troublesome Cloud:
Case Laminate with deluxe Front and Back covers (Ingram)
Kindle ebook / Paperback (no text on spine)
Scroll Past the Images to Read the First Act…
ACT One:
A Conflict Introduced
There once was a creature who lived by a tree,
on a hill, in a land, remote and dreary...
Year after year it never moved,
sitting contently, enjoying the view.
No one came to visit, no one ever called,
and the creature thought that was the best part of all.
Then one day a cloud appeared,
which the creature found interesting, but also quite weird.
All through the morning…
it flew to-and-fro…
before choosing to stop…
with the creature below.
That afternoon it started to rain,
right above the creature’s brain.
First one drop, then several, for one hour then two,
three turned to four hours, and four to a few.
Day after day the rain did not stop,
with the creature left soaking, from bottom to top.
After a week the creature was beat,
and for the first time in memory, took to its feet.
It looked at the cloud that refused to vacate,
and wished it would promptly evaporate.
It hadn’t been invited or asked to call,
and the creature thought that was the worst part of all.
Ideas formed in the creature’s mind,
on how to leave the storm cloud behind...
It first paced away nonchalantly,
hoping the cloud would remain by the tree.
The creature walked farther than ever before,
sixty-seven inches, not one step more.
But it rapidly realized this plan would fail,
the cloud too quick, its legs too frail.
Next it decided, after deliberation,
to appeal to the cloud using verbal persuasion.
The creature spoke with its most eloquent words,
but since clouds have no ears, its speech went unheard.
It subsequently ducked behind its old tree,
but the cloud soon found it, what misery!
It then dug a hole, in which to hide…
but the cloud undeterred, hovered just outside…
As it swooped down low, the rain intensified…
soon the cavern resembled the beach at high tide!
Washed away in the momentary wake...
The waterlogged creature plunged into a lake.
Up to its neck, concealed by the pond,
surrounded by tules, grasses, and fronds.
Treading its feet and feeling impressed,
the creature was certain this scheme was its best.
But in less than one minute, its legs were in pain,
try as it might, it could not take the strain.
So it gave up the swamp for stable terrain,
reuniting again with the cloud and the rain.
Thus, the crestfallen creature decided to leave,
familiar surroundings in search of reprieve.
Trudging away it was feeling aggrieved,
full of displeasure and melancholy.
As it took one last look at its lonely little tree,
there were tears in its eyes - it could hardly see.
To read the next three Acts…
purchase the Troublesome Cloud in the following formats: