Practical Considerations

Photo by: Footy and Foodie

Dr. Thorogood looked up into the sky with pride. As the sun slipped low in the sky, the pattern of clouds contrasted beautifully. “Isn’t it fantastic?” he said.

“I suppose so,” said Paul Lords, tech reporter at large. “How does it work?”

“The concept is simple really.” Thorogood pointed. “This patch of sky has been seeded with trillions of nanobots. On command, specific nanobots collect water vapor to form clouds. They form a ‘cloud dot.’ Enough of them form a letter. Eventually, they can spell out messages. It’s dot-matrix printing with clouds!”

“That is amazing…I guess.”

“They’re programmed with every written language know to Man. They can write in Sanskrit, even Sign Language. This will change skywriting worldwide!”

Paul sighed. “Yeah.”

Thorogood scowled at Paul. “I sense a lack of enthusiasm.”

“Well, it is amazing technology.”

“But…?” prompted Thorogood.

“Well perhaps not all written languages should be used, owing to practical considerations.”

“Like what?”

Paul pointed to the clouds forming into dots. “Does it make sense to skywrite in Braille?”
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Written for Flash Fiction for Aspiring Writers: https://flashfictionforaspiringwriters.wordpress.com/2017/06/19/fffaw-challenge-week-of-june-20-2017/

Author’s Notes:

Braille: For those who are visually impaired, Braille is a wonderful tool. Patterns of raised/recessed dots allow people to read as easily as a sighted person. A critical aspect of Braille is that the reader must physically touch the dots in order to read them.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Braille

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