First, i was on a plantation. The work was hard, but i felt useful, and appreciated. i was part of a team, with many other men. Together we slaved away, until we died. When we died, not one mourned us but ourselves, amongst ourselves, as brothers.

One day, i looked up at the dark, threatening clouds, and i wondered, "is anything up there"? When i asked my brothers, they said to me, "nothing is above the clouds, for nothing is outside this field upon which we slave away, brother, work with us now, and you will be happy". Upon hearing this from my brothers i went back to work, but in the back of my mind i kept thinking of the clouds, always.

One day i saw a man, a good man i knew, suffer abuse at the hands of a creature, a woman. The woman did not work, she was not one of us, but she called that good man "useles", "worthless" and an "idiot". I looked to my brothers and asked,"why do we not help this man, our brother?". They looked at me as if i had gone mad, and went back to work. I did something i had never done before, i put down my tool and walked up to this vile woman, this abusive female, and i asked her, "why do you abuse this good man?". She turned to me and said "what yo gon' do 'bout it lil' boy?", upon which i called our foreman, our trusted foreman, symbol of our good work, and told him,"this is a good man, and this vile creature is abusing him, please help him". The foreman looked at me for a moment, then struck me down. I asked him, "for what crime have i committed, that you would strike me down, my dear foreman?", upon which he told me, "you cant disrespect a lady, bud". I felt confused, how could my foreman, my inspiration and father figure, strike me down when i asked him to help my brother? I felt sick, so sick, and confused, so very confused.

Suddenly i felt very light, as if i was but a feather's weight. I opened my eyes and to my horror i was flying! up, up into the sky i went, higher and higher. I feared i would fall, hurt myself, perhaps even die!

Then i saw around me, from other plantations, other men going up higher and higher, with the same look of fear in their eyes. Then i looked down.

And i saw, for the first time, the world.

Endless teams of men, slaving away on endless rows of fields, on endless lines of plantations. Men who spoke different tongues, had different colours of skin, listened to different preachers, all the same, brothers in the suffering, blind and deaf to eachother.

I turned my gaze upwards, for the earth had nothing more to show me, and saw the clouds coming ever closer. Some men around me started falling, choosing certain death over the chance to face those clouds. The rest of us entered the clouds, fearful yet curious.

Then i was lost. Up and down, left and right, heaven and earth were no more. i could not see, i could not hear, i was alone and lost. I thought "how i wish i was back with my brothers, on my field, on my plantation". But i was too curious, my fear not strong enough to force me back down, and i kept going, not knowing where, or why.

Then, my head came above the clouds, and all my doubts left me, for i saw it. I saw blue, the blue sky, and light, the light of the sun, below me was white, a white field of clouds, stretching out in all directions, endlessly. And there were other men, far away, simply floating around, smiling, laughing when they floated past eachother, without saying a word, as if they were laughing about something only they knew. And as i saw it all with great wonder, then a thought came to me, as if i had known all along, and i closed my eyes and felt the warmth of the sun, the cool breeze of the wind, and i smiled too.