Talk to T. R Healy on the Fictionville blog
"Mister?" Jordy turned around and saw the little girl he had sold a balloon to only a couple of minutes ago. "What is it, dear?" "My balloon flew away." "What happened?" "I don't know. It was in my hand and then it was gone." "Oh, I'm sorry," he said, patting her on the head. "I guess I better give you one to take its place." She smiled shyly. He took a yellow balloon from his pushcart and filled it with helium gas, but instead of handing it to the girl, he looped its string around her left wrist. "There, dear, it won't fly away now." "But maybe I will," she said, sounding concerned, as she stared at her wrist. He chuckled. "Now how could that be?" "That funny air you put inside your balloons makes them fly right up into the sky. Up with all the clouds. And I don't want to be up there." "Don't worry, dear. You won't." "Promise?" He crossed his heart. "I do." Still not convinced, she turned and walked away from the cart, her eyes riveted on the string fastened around her wrist. Jordy watched her plunge into the throng of people around the skating rink, the yellow balloon the only sign of her in another moment. What was her fear was his dream, he thought, as he got ready to leave and began to pack up his empty balloons. The hardest part of his job was pushing his cart through all the traffic and congestion at night and often he wished he could tie enough balloons to his wrists so that he could float above everything. Sometimes he even imagined he could and soared above pedestrians and cars, above telephone lines and billboards, above steeples as tall as mountain peaks. Then he was home in a matter of minutes, instead of the usual hour and a half it took, but he was surprised how often he wished he was still in the air, floating above all the confusion and grime he saw on the ground. Some night, he suspected, he would try, attaching to his arms and legs every balloon he had not sold and then wait to be lifted into the air. Because up there he felt relaxed, confident, more than a balloon salesman.