Their small faces were fixed on his every word. He was telling them the story of the petals of salt and he paused momentarily, watching their eyes widen in anticipation. He told them of the storms he endured at sea; storms so violent that when they passed, Mother Nature felt great sorrow for inflicting such cruelty upon the sailors. To calm their nerves, she would conjure beautiful clouds that danced above the boats in the shapes of flowers after the storm had passed. Exhausted and shivering in their wet clothes, the sailors would be frozen in wonder, standing on the deck of the boats, necks craned upwards, watching the clouds spin and churn into botanical wonders of the heavens. The children looked to the sky and he used his fingers to trace the imaginary dance of the petals of salt.