“Did you ever wonder what it would be like?” Lila asked Glitters.

“What it would be like? You mean?” her talking horse, resembling a unicorn, looked down below, disgusted by the mere mention of ‘earth.’ “Um, down there? Yeah. No way. Nothing doing. Look how much fun it is to just float. I mean, down there it would . . . hurt to walk, right?”

Flibberflop’s gravity worked in reverse. Instead of being pulled to the ground, everything floated between the upper atmosphere and the ground. The Great Sky Weaver, living and ruling from a castle made of cotton candy clouds, wove the skies together in a patchwork quilt of colors.

“Then why make the ground and all the ‘stuff’ down there,” she pointed to a grove of the tallest Redwood trees, “if it wasn’t meant to be walked around on?”

“You need to get your head out of these crazy ideas of earth,” the unihorse said, shaking his mane. Floating from cloud to cloud, Glitters left a trail of shimmering crystals from her tail, streaking the sky with the multicolors. Except for Glitters, the residents of Flibberflops used umbrellas to navigate the skies. “Come on. There’s some aquacolor clouds over there,” Glitters pointed with a hoof that never touched the ground. “I’m thirsty.”

Lila frowned at Glitters. “Come on, Lila. If we don’t go now, we’ll be the last to get a drink. And you think the Great Sky Weaver is going to just magically make more aquacolor?”

“I want to know what it’s like,” she pouted. “We both have legs, but we’ve never walked on them. Why?”

“I’m not getting into this with you today. It’s not after mealtime. That’s when we can talk about all these boring things. Then, if I fall asleep, which I most assuredly will, you won’t be as mad at me. Because my belly will be full.”

“Fine.” Lila followed the horse-creature to the aqaucolor clouds. Most of the clouds were quickly thinning, thanks to the other magical creatures drinking in their color. For a few seconds, everyone drinking from the clouds turned an aqua-bluish color. Not exactly blue, but not green. More like the color of the water they were all floating over.

No one else saw them, but Lila did. A pair of shoes. No one, not even Lila, had seen a pair of shoes. Ther was no need for shoes in the clouds. Gravel? In the clouds? Nope. Soft grass? Not a blade. Sand from the beach that gets everywhere? Nope. Not up here.

Before anyone else saw, Lila snatched the shoes and hid behind her umbrella. Carefully she inspected the shoes. First she tried them on her hands. But that was uncomfortable, and she couldn’t wiggle her fingers. Then she tried them on her feet, but she put the left one on the right, the right? On the left. Again, uncomfortable. Then, after a few more minutes, she put them on the correct feet. Her feet couldn’t breathe, but she felt happy. They felt heavy on her feet, which is when she noticed she was falling from the sky – fast!

No one noticed her fall, but she watched as her friends, Glitters, Zephyr, and Nimbus, continued to drink from the aquacolor clouds.

Lila didn’t fall, crash, or thud to the ground. She floated, landing on her feet, like a cat. The shoes cushioned her fall, but she didn’t know that. Lila had never before experienced gravity. It was heavy, felt heavy in her body. Her first step and she fell over, unused to her legs and feet. Walking proved incredibly dificult, especially with the heavy footwear.

“So, you, like, fell from the sky and you don’t have enough decency to tell me your name?” The small rodent spat harsh words at Lila. She’d never been spoken to so rudely before. Well, maybe from the Great Sky Weaver, but if that happened? Chances are good she deserved it. “Well? Come on now. What’s your name there girlie?”

“My-my-my name is Lila,” she stammered. “I came from . . .”

“No time for that now,” the squirrel interrupted. “I’m Nutters. I’m a squirrel.”

“What’s a squirrel?” Lila asked.

“How’s that?” Nutters shot back. “You’ve never heard of squirrels before?”