The little girl sat in the backseat of the jeep. The tires spinning and turning as the car pushed forward. The cool summer breeze blew against her, as her shoulder length hair flew around in the wind. The little girl bickered with her older brother as the jeep followed the curvy road. Her parents sitting in the front seat talking about the plans of the day. The father slowed the jeep down and pulled it to the side of the road. “Do you guys want to see off the cliff edge?” The father asked the children. “Yes!” both the kids yelled excitedly. The mother and father helped the children out of the jeep.

As soon as the children’s feet hit the ground, they ran to the stone fence that was there. A sightseeing spot near the edge of a cliff. Guarded by a stone fence so the people wouldn’t go too far and fall. The children smiled as they gazed down at the view. The wind blew the little girl’s hair to the side as her eyes lit up, glowing with admiration. “Woah…” she said, astonished at the sight. The thousands of pine trees covering the land below seemed to stretch forever. The uneven land like ocean waves stretched far into the distance. A single small road barely seen between trees with cars driving along. The deer running through the trees, the goats climbing the side of the mountains. The birds fly from tree to tree. The jagged rock edges seen from the sides of the mountains of all different colors. Shining as the sunlight shone upon it. The blue sky with fluffy cotton clouds in the background. The little girl took the sight in, and her heart soared. “I wish I could fly through the mountain ranges,” she said out loud. Her brother nodded in agreement as he took the sight in himself. The parents taking pictures of the scene and their children looking at the scene. “We should get going before the candy store closes,” the mother said. “Candy!” the kids yelled and ran back to the jeep.

Hopping back into the vehicle, the family talked about the beautiful sight they saw. The jeep pulled away onto the road. Once again following the curvy road. The children gazing at the trees as the jeep pushed forward. An hour later the jeep pulled off the road once again. “Do you kids want to climb to the top of the mountain?” the father asked his children excitedly. The children got out of the vehicle excitedly with the parents’ help and ran towards the stairs. The stairs went up to the very top of the mountain they were on. The parents watched as their children ran up the stairs. “Race you to the top!” the older brother yelled as he rushed past his sister. “Last one to the top is a rotten egg!!” the little girl yelled as she tried to catch up. Laughing as they ran trying to win the race. The kids made it to the top out of breath. “I..beat you….you’re a ro…rotten egg” the sister said. “No….I won….you’re the egg…” the brother responded. Both out of breath. The children bickered for a minute before they noticed the view in front of them.

They both awed in amazement. Seeing the view. Thousands of trees lined the land as the land was uneven like ocean waves, with animals frolicking about within the trees barely visible to their eyes. The clouds almost touched them as the vast sky seemed ever so close. The little girl reached her hand out and reached for the sky. Wanting to touch the clouds and sky. Her feelings bubbled as she felt something. As if there was something in the sky and vast openness, she reached out further, longing to find what she could. A feeling that something was there within the clouds and sky. Something she longed for. Yet she didn’t know what. Her thoughts bubbled with curiosity as she stared at the clouds and mountains ahead of her. ‘One day.’ She thought to herself. She felt as if one day she would find that something she longed for in the clouds. 

Withdrawing her hand from the sky, she turned away from the beauty she saw. “Race you to the car!” She yelled, running down the stairs as the brother was taken by surprise. “Not fair!” the brother yelled as he followed suit. The children laughed as they raced to the car. The parents laughed at their children’s shenanigans. A beautiful visit to the mountains gave the little girl what she needed. A need to know what was in that sky and why she longed for it. Also, some candy from the special candy store that was in the mountains.

Biography: I was brought to aims by the community and the support here. Arts and crafts are a lifeline for me. Arts and crafts are the clouds and sky, they are the heart and fire of life. What drew me to artistic form is the feeling of creating. The feeling of creating as I write or draw on a page paves my way through life. It is what makes me happy and smile. It is both my stress and happiness in one. As an artist I feel like a puddle of water, I can be small, big, deep, shallow, clear or colorful. As an artist I am the water droplets from the sky or the water down in the caves. I feel the best way to describe me as an artist is something that is forever changing and can be a variety of things. Such as water. Some artists that have inspired me and that I look up to are Edgar Allen Poe, Maya Angelou and Walt Whitman.