When Sarah had a three day weekend without homework at the University of Hawaii in Honolulu, she bolted. She got on a ferry for Maui, and found herself in the forests half way up the dormant volcano Haleakala. She passed from the monstrous prickly pear cactus fields up the barren slopes to the edge of the rain forest still far below the silent dome yet far above the distant ocean. The road was only dirt and a ranger would have likely told her she was not allowed here, yet here were other cars, trucks and vans parked just inside the trees near the trailhead.
Only locals. No red rental convertibles here.
As she locked the car, she noticed the clouds were all still in the sky except one, that slowly worked its way toward Haleakala, seemingly changing direction to avoid touching any other clouds along the way. She smiled. That is why she loved the islands. Always something new to surprise you, even on a partly cloudy day out in the middle of nowhere.
She was on the trail and just above cloud level when the cave came in sight. She looked in, but felt a little uneasy about it, even though the opening was large enough to drive a van through. Volcanic caves were dangerous, and filled with spirits, some said. She found a nice shaded rock to sit on and watch the clouds.
Some of the clouds were close to the mountain. One was moving toward the mountain right below where she was sitting. Ten feet down the slope, it hit and became fog pushing up the slop and past her enveloping her in a white world, obscuring everything more that 30 feet away. Her world went from being bounded only by the horizon to a white cloud scape 60 feet across.
Still, the fog was beautiful and had shape to its mist. Sarah thought that she could even make out the shape of a mare coming accross the cloud, but it must be a trick of the eyes. Then the mare reached the mountain slope and stumbled, and she heard it on the loose rock. It had a bridle as white as the cloud, but she was gray with spots of white and black. She seemed to be panicked, but forced her way up the slope within arms length of Sarah. Instinctively Sarah reached out and grabbed the bridle of the riderless horse.
"Now how did you make it look like you ran across the clouds?" Sarah spoke gently to sooth the beast. It looked at her and stopped panicking at once.
The wind picked up suddenly and rain started to fall. Sarah was a bit startled herself by this abrupt change in the weather. She looked around for somewhere to take shelter. She remembered the cave, even though she could no longer see it because of the fog. She led the mare inside with a little pursuading.
"We will just wait here for this storm to pass."
But it did not pass. It remained steady. In the distance she heard a man's voice calling out. It must be the rider, because the horse winnied every time he called. She had an unsually deep roaring neigh, almost like thunder. It shook the cave and even the ground under Sarah's feet.
"Kumukahi? What are you doing in there?" A man's voice spoke and he stood in the cave's mouth. He wore a brilliant white robe that shown like the sun, even though the fog and rain made it impossible to see the sun. He stopped when he saw Sarah.
"Haleakala? Lady of the volcano? Why do you hold my horse?"
"Lady? I am just Sarah. I caught your mare as she stumbled on the mountain slope. We were just waiting for the wind and rain to stop."
The man laughed. Sarah did not see the humor.
"No. You are not the lady of the mountain. But a very special lady you must be. Wind and rain will not bow to the will of most mortals. That mare is the wind and rain. She is the cloud."
Sarah handed him the bridle.
"I am sorry. I did not know." She looked respectfully down at his feet. She realized it was not illusion that the horse had run from the cloud onto the mountain slope. The mare was the cloud, or the heart of it anyway. She just wished she had brought her camera.
"Come with us." He held out his hand as he mounted the mare.
"Wh- Where?"
"Beyond the horizon."
"When will we be back?"
He paused, thoughtfully.
"With the wind and rain and cloud, who can say when or if?
"Come Sarah. I sense that Kumukahi desires it too."
She had never been beyond the horizon. No matter how fast you drove or flew or swam toward the horizon, it always fled at the same pace. She would love this escape. But then there was school and her family and civilization and humanity. Could you get good rice and Portuguese sausage beyond the horizon? She suppressed a giggle.
"I can't. I have class tomorrow."
Kumukahi let lose another thunderous neigh. There seemed to be disappointment there in the rumbling beneath her feet.
"Very well." They spun and were gone.
Soon after he took the horse from the cave, the wind and rain left. The cloud was past. The sky was blue again with clouds slightly below her nearly touching the slopes of Haleakala. One singular cloud galloped up the slope to the peak and disappeared over the rim.
For a moment, she regretted her decision. She almost ran after the cloud, but then realized the futility. She sighed and walked back to her car. Eventually, she decided that she had merely dreamed the whole thing, but on any given day, she still looks at the sky searching for a cloud that moves differently than the rest.