Have you ever seen a blue see-saw with clouds painted on it? Chances are, you have, and that it was the same one that I did, but you did not check it out. I did, on a whim, on a cold, dull day in the beginning of winter.

The playground was empty, so no fear of being seen- a forty-something woman with no visible kids to justify her presence in a playground at noon.

There was the see-saw, an impossible blue, with wispy clouds painted on it. Pulling my jacket around me, I went toward it, as if drawn. Gingerly, I lowered myself at one end, the lower end. But I had no one to lower the other side- (wrong choice when you are alone).

All of a sudden, it was as if a giant hand had pushed the other end down, jettisoning me with a deadly force and speed upwards, fast and accurate till I landed with a soft thud in a never ending cloudscape of white cotton balls on blue.

It was not cold here, and there was no one in sight. I got up and took a faltering step forward. It was like walking on a trampoline. I was afraid I would fall through that net. I stood still. The cloud began to give way. Instinctively, I took another step, and then another. I realized that I had to walk on, in order to stay safe. And walk I did – through chambers of clouds- clouds of haze and fog, of blinding light and dark gloom, clouds like flurry streaks, and clouds like plowed fields of white.

And then I was tired. It was a chamber of soft clouds, at times white, at times black. All I could feel was softness. I wished to stay, but I could walk no further, and to stay, you had to walk. If you stood, you could fall through. But my legs would not move, my feet were swollen, my ankles leaden, my soles chafing.

The cloud ground was giving way, and I could feel the speed of my fall. As I went down, I shut my eyes tight, waiting for the crash. It didn’t happen.

I was stopped mid-air. I opened my eyes. I saw a pink, pearly light around me, bathing me in a glow of supreme beauty. There was a fragrance in the air, a scent I couldn’t place. And strains of music flowed like skeins of silk.

I was not falling anymore. A pair of arms held me, enveloping me, holding me in a bear-hug.

Above me was a huge ink blue sign with a giant number nine in gold.

Now I knew where I was. On Cloud Nine, duh.