Several days had passed since the boys were so mysteriously and amazingly transported back in time, and yet they hand’t talked much about the experience.  Even the teaching assistant, Mr. Mahajan, who had inspired their magical journey, had remained silent.  Finally, on a morning walk to school, past the little creek where that awesome experience had taken place, Trey voiced what each of them had been thinking:  "I want to go again!"  

   

Then, turning to Alex with a bit of excitement, he said,  “Do you think Mr. Mahajan would help us do it again?" 

   

Alex, the oldest, answered, "I don't know.  He hasn't said anything about it.  Shoot.  He hasn’t even talked to us since that day—except to ask some dumb question about school.  So, I don’t know.”  

   

"But it never hurts to ask, right?” injected Andy, his bright blue eyes sparkling with excitement.  

   

And with a certain affirmation, Alex added:  "No, it doesn't.  We will ask him today during the lunch recess.  Okay?”  

   

"Okay,” they affirmed.  

   

The morning followed its normal, unexciting, and predictable pattern—reading and writing, listening and learning, questions and answers.  Finally, lunch time arrived.  Their meal was quickly consumed- and that delicious time for play, so eagerly anticipated, finally came.  The four brothers quickly rose and ran outside to await the arrival of Mr. Mahajan, Mrs. Davis’ new teaching assistant.  But for some reason, he took longer to come out than usual.  The boys, so eager to talk with him, didn’t know what to do.    

   

"Let's play the cloud game!" said Andy.  “Maybe that’ll help pass the time.”  

   

For nothing better to do, they each agreed, lay on their backs, and began looking for some imaginary object to be shaped by the clouds.  

   

"Look!  There’s a dinosaur!" yelled Andy.  

   

"I see a hippo with his mouth open!" exclaimed Trey.  

   

The boys were so immersed in their searches that they didn’t see or hear Mr. Mahajan come outside and lie down quietly beside them.  

   

Suddenly he spoke.  "Do you know where clouds come from?" he asked. 

   

Startled, the boys shot straight up and immediately began voicing their surprise.  But Mr. Mahajan quieted them, and then encouraged them to lie back on the ground.  “Continue your game,” he told them.  So, with more than a little disappointment, they complied.  

   

"I have another story, for you.  Would you like to hear it?" he asked. 

 

“Yeah!” they exclaimed. 

 

“That’s exactly what we wanted,” said Alex.  “How did you know?” 

 

With a smile, Mr. Mahajan began.  “This story takes place many years ago, and again at a time before Rama was king."  

   

"Where does it take place?" Ty asked.  

   

"ALL over the world,” he replied.  “See, long before the earth was fully developed, mountains of every size had wings and flew all over the face of the earth, landing here and there whenever they got tired.  But in so doing, they took no notice of where they were landing and crushed whole villages and communities."  

   

"The mountains were killing people and animals?"  Alex asked with concern.  

   

"Yes, Alex.  And they showed no remorse.  People lived in constant fear, not knowing where or when a mountain would come falling out the sky and crush them.  Can you imagine living every day with that kind of fear?"  

   

The boys answered with a resounding, "NO WAY!"   

   

"Well, neither did the people on earth,” noted the teacher.  “So after living many years in such fear, the people began praying to the god Indra for help.  Indra heard their prayers and decided to intervene.  He tried talking with the biggest of the mountains.  But that cruel, insensitive mountain wouldn’t listen.  It made Indra mad.  He was unaccustomed to being ignored."  

   

"So what happened?” asked Ty.  “And what does it have to do with clouds?"  

   

"Patience, Ty.  Patience."  Unexpectedly, Mr. Majahan began to whisper quiet, incantations.  The boys closed their eyes.  Once again, they felt themselves being pulled backwards through time.  They were frightened, and yet excited.  Suddenly, standing in front of them was the biggest living being they had ever seen.  He had four massive arms.  And he was angry.  

   

"Uh oh.  Now we’re in trouble,” said Trey.  

   

"No.  We’re okay, Trey,” said Mr. Mahajan reassuringly.  “He can’t see us.  We can see him, but he can’t see us.  So, watch and listen."  

   

Still uncertain, but feeling at least a bit more at ease, the four complied.  

   

"FINE,” said Indra to the mountain.  “You want to be unreasonable?  I will show you unreasonable.  I am Indra, a high god of this world, and you will bow before my powers."  

   

"Ha, ha, ha.” laughed the Mountain.  “High god indeed.  I am a mighty rock, yet flying as a bird, and will do as I please."  

   

"Not anymore!" declared Indra.  Full of rage, he conjured up bolts of lightning, sending them streaking across the universe.  The four brothers watched in awe as he stretched forth those massive arms, pointed at the mountains, striking them with electrifying bolts of lightning, disabling and disengaging their wings, and causing them to fall heavily to the earth.  When the last mountain had fallen, the lightening stopped.  The storm cleared.  And an eerie calm returned to the universe.  

   

In that very moment, the boys were wondrously transported back to the school yard.  Mr. Mahajan spoke as if nothing unusual had transpired:  "You see, boys, with the wings no longer attached to the mountains, they were free to fly on their own.  And today, we call the wings no longer attahced to the mountains ‘clouds’." 

  

The bell rang.  Lunch time recess was over.  Mr. Mahajan walked alongside the enchanted brothers as they returned, grudgingly but silently, to the classroom. 

 

Beginning a special class, Mrs. Davis asked the question:  "Can anyone tell me where clouds come from?" 

  

The four brothers looked at each other and smiled.  One by one, but working together, they told the story.  But, they didn’t include their mid-day experience with time travel.  That was their little secret.

Continue to Chapter Three

Return to Chapter One

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