The Cloud-Cottage of Wishes

When koi fish paint the heavens with the colors of hope

Lily Willow was a most unusual girl in a most unusual place. She lived with her grandfather in a cottage that floated on a cloud, high above the sleepy village of Whispering Glade.

“Grandpa,” Lily said one evening, as they sat on their porch, the night sky stretching like a velvety blanket above them, “why do we live in a cloud? Why can’t we live down there, with everyone else?”

Grandpa Willow smiled, his eyes twinkling like stars. “Ah, my little Lily-pad, it’s because we’re dream weavers, you and I. And dream weavers need to be close to the stars, close to the magic.”

Lily furrowed her brow. “Magic? What magic?”

“The magic of wishes, of course! And the magic of the celestial koi.”

“Celestial koi? You mean like… fish? In the sky?” Lily looked up, half-expecting to see a fish swim by.

Grandpa Willow chuckled. “Not just any fish, my dear. These are special koi, magic koi. They swim in the river of the heavens, their scales shimmering with the hopes and dreams of everyone down below.”

Just then, as if on cue, a flicker of light caught Lily’s eye. She gasped as a shimmering fish, its scales the color of molten gold, leapt from the…