Summer Clouds

Louis and Antinette

by Michael Bobb

"The private, luxury jet
had just entered sky above the clouds

This sky was cobalt blue

Through the port window
Louis caught sight of a rainbow

The rainbow was no ordinary rainbow
It was dazzling and resplendent
And its shape was 
like nothing ever seen on Earth
Not an arc
But a circle
A spectacular 360°!
A pure concentric
arrangement of
Red
Orange
Yellow
Green
Blue
Indigo
Violet

Sometimes you have to leave Earth
to see certain things...

'Antoinette, darling
Can you tell the pilot to change course
and fly through
the centre of that rainbow?'

'Yes, dearest'

The jet’s rudder and flaps
come into operation
And as the centre of gravity alters
the Château Cheval Blanc
almost escapes the flutes

As he throttles
the pilot decides
they may like some music
to enhance the fly through

On the first strike of the
composer’s staff
Louis presses a button on
the seat controls

The seats Antoinette and Louis are on
smoothly slide back
making room
for them to dance

Louis rises from his seat

Antoinette rises from her seat

They both turn to each other

Louis removes his hat and bows graciously
Plumes lightly brushing the floor

Antoinette curtsies
tilting her head slightly forward

In time with the music
they make proud struts
Clockwise then anticlockwise

A French baroque dance ensues...

As the jet continues
a ray of sunlight strikes the flutes
bouncing light all around the inside of the aircraft

Halfway through the dance
the composer’s staff
strikes a louder dynamic
And the pilot throttles to Mach 1!

The g-force causes their drinks to spill – a little

They both collapse into chairs
Turn on the rearview cameras
and watch the circular rainbow
vanish into the distance
Powered by Rolls-Royce

The pilot then gently takes them back down
through the clouds and they see
the curvature of Earth again

Louis turns to Antoinette
And Antoinette turns to Louis

The pilot then announces
their estimated time of arrival…

Even though they are below
the summer clouds –
the dense, thick clouds –
bright sunlight is still bouncing around
the inside of the aircraft..."