Lost in the Clouds: A gentle story to help children understand death and grief (Difficult Conversations)

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With precise wording, the story is written from a grieving child's perspective: "He liked to think she was now in the clouds." I, personally, have thought this about certain special people who've passed—even as an adult. Have you? Skylar soon realizes the woman is the one Cirrus had talked about that lived with them. As Skylar is thinking this, Cirrus suddenly pulls him close and explains to Jisu that Skylar is the friend he brought home the other day. [15] He begins to passive-aggressively remind his stepmother that she was "super disappointed" that she didn’t get to meet him. [13] Skylar stands there, watching in silence as Cirrus passive-aggressively antagonizes his stepmother with his fake persona. Revealing to her friends that she is married to a man that has a son, and therefore, she is a mother. Eventually, Jisu tries to dismiss the confrontation and tells Cirrus to have fun with his friend. However, Cirrus responds that they aren't friends, and feigns embarrassment, as he explains that Skylar and he are dating. [15] He goes as far as to intertwine his fingers with Skylar’s, and kisses his hand. This causes Skylar to become uncomfortable. [15] Later, everyone is getting ready to go to the auditorium to watch the talent show. As Cirrus is counting, he notices Skylar is missing and goes to tell the teacher. The teacher explains that Skylar stated he wasn’t feeling well, so he let him stay in the room to rest. Cirrus, wanting to see Skylar, asked if he could go to the restroom. [24] Meanwhile, with Skylar, after texting his worried friends, he calls Ha-yeon and asks how the situation is at home. [25] Ha-yeon explains their mother has become frantic because she thought he was having a relapse. Skylar tries to explain that is not the case, and Ha-yeon tells him she’s scared the two will start arguing again. Skylar reassures her that won’t happen and that he’ll try to explain things to her when he gets home. Then, he hangs up the phone. After he finishes talking to her, he thinks about how and when his life began to fall apart. As he does so, he scratches his finger. He thinks about it for a while, and the only conclusion he comes to is the middle school incident. He thinks about his hatred for Minwoo, and accidentally peels a piece of his skin off in the process. As he’s staring at the blood, he realizes that even though he still hates him, he still loves Minwoo. After he wipes the blood away, he falls asleep. [25]

at school skylar and cirrus aren’t very fond of each other and academic rivals with cirrus knowing skylar having a major crush on his best friend chan il. Cirrus goes to get Candy, and thanks Da-in again for taking care of her. As he’s walking home, he notices a leaf resting on Candy's head. He laughs a bit as he finds it cute, and he makes a note of how nice the day is. He thinks about how excited Skylar must be to have the flash drive. [40] Cirrus thinks about what Skylar had said to him about telling him what he wants from him so Cirrus doesn’t need to be around him anymore. [27] This causes Cirrus to get out the flash drive that has the photos saved on it, and he thinks about what he wants from Skylar. He then tosses the flash drive away and tells himself that he wants nothing from Skylar. [27] With Chan-il raising what he said, Cirrus tells him to not take it wrong but he happened to see some files in Skylar’s folder and they kind of had something to do with him. Stating that he could have misunderstood something, Cirrus claims he tried feeling Skylar out, and the way he reacted makes him think he was right. Cirrus is clear that Skylar has been taking secret pictures of Chan-il.

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The next day, Skylar arrives at his desk, to see the photos on them. He delivers them to the freshmen students. During lunchtime, he sits down as Dongsik and Jeong-hoon are in the middle of a conversation. Skylar asks his two friends what they're talking about. In response, the two men stare at Skylar, then drop the conversation that they were having, telling him that they were conversing about a game that he wouldn't be interested in. [37] Skylar notes how odd their behavior is, and that they have been leaving him out of their conversations recently. He begins to become anxious, as he wonders what could've caused them to become distant suddenly. [37] The story about Billy losing his mum is sensitively handled. It tells a story using familiar things like the weather, especially focusing on the sky and playing in the garden. It's overall a positive story that can lift the heart. It also shows children how Billy finds comfort in clouds and sunny days. It therefore also gives children ideas for discovering hope and comfort, especially on sunnier days. These are Billy's happy days. The harder days are painted as more gloomy, stormy weather. So, this book cleverly shows different emotions through these weather changes, which can in turn help with some understanding of emotions experienced when grieving. The next day, Chan-il is at a bookstore, buying books for music composition. While there, he notices Skylar. He goes to greet him, where Skylar tells him he’s there to buy some workbooks. Chan-il notices the books that he’s holding, realizes he’s studying extra hard, and worries for him. [28] Chan-il tries to help him get his mind off studying by telling him that they haven’t had a photography lesson in some time. [28] Skylar hesitates before requesting that they stop doing the photography lessons. He apologizes, but Chan-il tells him not to worry about it, and thanks him for the lessons. Skylar tells Chan-il farewell and begins to leave. He silently tells himself this decision was for the best, as now he can try and move on. However, Chan-il grabs him and asks him if he can return the favor for all the lessons Skylar gave him. He asks if they hang out the upcoming weekend. [28] The following day, during the ten minutes of free time in gym class, Skylar goes to the bathroom. Upon seeing this, Cirrus decides to mess with him more, and he brings his friends to the front of the bathroom door. [6] As Skylar is about to get out of the bathroom, he hears Cirrus talking and decides to eavesdrop on their conversation. He can’t hear much, but is able to make out the words "Chan-il" and "secret". Upon hearing this, Skylar believes Cirrus to be talking about the events of yesterday and begins to panic. [6] Eventually, Cirrus ends up explaining that he had won a bet that Chan-il and he had made: If Cirrus won at least one out of the ten games they would play, Chan-il would give him one wish. After a bit, the trio leaves the area. The transfer of personal information to overseas third parties is made through a network at the time of consent.

aWhen we lose someone, we wish we could still see, feel, and hear them. Billy misses his mummy very much. He likes to imagine she is always around him, up in the clouds. Follow Billy and his father as they navigate the loss of his mother through beautifully emotive illustrations and text: Deep within a dream, he saw a cylinder between Cirrus’ fingers. Smoke danced from its glowing tip. A cigarette. “Have a hit.” He offered. Billy misses his mommy very much. She lives in the clouds. Some days when he and Daddy play in the garden, he knows that Mommy is letting the sun shine for them. But not all days are like that. Sometimes Mommy’s clouds are dark, and Billy feels sad and alone.But, some days are heavier and he and Daddy don't jive. And the specific details from a child's view tell us this: "His eyes would always be looking far away..."; "his eyes would look red and sore." cirrus is an amazing bf and he has friends , gets on well with his mother and talks to his sister more often