Curiouser and curiouser….

That Time a Thomas the Cloud Ate a Girl

“It’s done chased away our daughter,” said the man,
referring to the noxious cloud of yellow and purple
that hung above the sweetgrass lawn like judgement.

“That old thing there?” asked the officer. “That’s Thomas.
And I doubt he chased anyone away, sir. Ate her, most like.”
The officer shook his baton at the cloud. “What say you, eh?”

The cloud shifted around a bit, grew and shrank, morphed
through a dizzying array of colors before settling on something
Bob Ross would struggle to name, much less in a pleasant tone.

“That clinches it, then,” the officer said. “He ate your daughter.
You’ll get the normal monetary compensation, and Thomas here
will be banished for a period of time. A year, most like.”

“The wife won’t be happy,” the father said, scratching his head.
The officer shrugged and popped a piece of gum in his mouth.
Thomas hung about, grumbling, finding himself still rather hungry.