Balloon Man
There, that'll show 'em, he thought, as the balloon rose higher and higher ...
OR
If you could take a balloon ride anywhere in the world, where would it be?
Write everyday ... it's good for your readers' souls.
Check out the INKsters in Second Life for all things virtually literary.
1 comment:
Balloon Man
There, that'll show 'em, he thought, as the balloon rose higher and higher over the water.
They don't think I'm going places, but this will make me a legend in the village. They'll say, "Yup, I was there the day Milias took that big ole balloon and rode it clear across the water to Ingersoll. It was the most amazin' thing I ever saw."
They'll stop saying, "Milias, you waste all your time on money on crazy ideas. You need to get a job and settle down."
Milias believed he was settled down. Settled into a life where daring ideas created grand adventures. The elders felt he should contribute in a more direct fashion to the future of the town, but Milias wanted to contribute to the future of the world. He invented sailing machines, flying machines, gadgets and widgets, and even fussed around in medicine a good deal. Most of his ideas turned sour in the testing phase, but he persevered anyway waiting for a big break.
The latest contraption, a flying balloon seat wouldn't win him any admiring fans in the science world. After all it was only a chair attached to a balloon. But it did create the kind of visual effect he desired to set his hometown abuzz.
"Now lookee there, that's really something," they probably said, Milias thought, as he pulled away from the tethers and floated into the sky and allowed the cool breezes to take him out to sea. The weather worked out perfectly, the day would cement his name in local legend, and when the distant shore came into view, he planned to descend and hopefully create a bit of a story on their side as well.
Feeling the shoreline grow fainter and smaller behind him, he nestled in for a long trip into infamy. At this height, if he experienced a malfunction, he knew he'd die, so he elected to think positive thoughts about his mechanical support since focusing on death wouldn't stave it off anyway. He looked down. I wonder what it would be like to fall all that distance and slam into the water below.
"It would hurt and then you'd be dead," he said to himself. "Not a good way to go."
And then his next thought surprised even him.
"I wonder if Anna saw me when I floated over her house."
He wasn't surprised by the thought; he was surprised by the late arrival of the thought. He'd been so busy launching himself, and so busy imagining two towns rising up to celebrate his latest achievement, he'd neglected to remember the main reason he'd built the balloon in the first place.
He did it for love.
He lifted off from the precise location with the exact wind direction to take him sailing directly over her house. She might not know him now, but when he returned to town a hero, she would be receiving a call from their local aeronautic hero.
The balloon man was in love and soon she'd be in love too.
Post a Comment