Running a little bit slow today so let’s just dive in and get started.
Timers set and 1, 2, 3. write.
I like the thought of the balloon as an almost living thing.
Tuesday, June 14th: Slowly the balloon inflated.
Slowly the balloon inflated. It was like watching a living creature rise from the ground after a long slumber. The silken fabrics lifted as it stretched, periodically warm gusts would cut through the crisp morning air as life was breathed into the behemoth.
It was fascinating and oddly terrifying all at once. Ollie couldn’t look away. He saw it rise, and realized why most of the others put decorations and even adverts along the cloth. This balloon was a solid blue, a shade darker than the sky above. The basket was a hair lighter and matched the current sky as though they had both been dipped in the same paint. It was slightly unnerving and made him think even more of some sort of sky creature getting ready to launch itself back into it’s natural element after a brief repose.
‘At least with the ones covered in decals there is no pretending it is a natural beast,’ he thought. He wondered briefly if there was time enough to back out of the endeavor, to turn away and leave without climbing in. But no, Uncle John was calling him forward, waving enthusiastically. He seemed to share none of Ollie’s misgivings. Ollie smiled and tried to look carefree as he sauntered over.
With some assistance and not a little trepidation, he climbed into the basket. He was relieved to find that the inside of the basket was a proper straw color with no one seeking to paint it a matching color. The metal and flame apparatus in the center also put him somewhat at ease. Seeing the mechanical fittings helped to dispel some of his earlier notions and he began to get excited by the thought of such flight.
John climbed in and slowly they rose into the air. The fire heating the air and causing the balloon to rise made whooshing sounds as it spurted flame above his head, but once they got going it’s sounds were periodic and not constant. Ollie strained his ears in amazement, even as his eyes drank in the landscape. The world was quiet. From here no sounds of those living below could reach them. If it weren’t for the occasional fire bursts they could have been stationary while a painting was slowly dragged beneath them.
He found the silence more unnerving than the height. He had been in high places before and they never bothered him. He had never been in a well of near complete silence before and he found he didn’t much care for it. Ollie turned to his uncle but john was listening to some sort of mechanical device, both his ears plugged as he rapidly took notes. Ollie was left on his own in the silence.
He watched the world drift by and tried to figure out where exactly they were going. Such information had not been provided. John merely informed him that he chose Ollie to accompany him on a grand adventure. There was no turning John down when he was in such a mood. Any resistance would be pushed aside with a whuff of amusement , as though he couldn’t possibly take such a refusal seriously.
Ten til Midnight 