The Girl and Her Red Balloon

Luftalu, a land made of clouds. Everyday people notice the clouds. They move ever so slightly, if you were to only glance at them you would be hard pressed to notice at all, there movement that is. And of course, the reason we are unable to see the cities on the surface of clouds is because we can only see the underside of them atop the surface of the earth.

In this place so close yet so far is another world. I won't bore you with the specifics of their technology economy or agriculture. However, on this day a particular group of children are playing near the edge of the land of clouds. And afar in the distance within their view is a red balloon with a smiley face drawn on it floating in place.

When they noticed it the children stopped to stare at the thing they had never seen before. Whilst they were gazing the balloon began to speak. It said, "One of you children come over here. I have floated away from my master and must return." All of the children were warned recently and repeatedly never to talk to strangers.

They backed away from the balloon, weary of its haughty manner of speech. All but one, a red haired girl stepped forward. The others warned her to stay away from the unidentified flying object. In response she said, "If someone needs help it's only polite to lend a hand. At least that's what Mom always says."

Though her mother likely never imagined a scenario of this sort playing out. The balloon wasn't very far from the edge of the ground made of cloud, but it was far enough that the red-haired girl could not reach. Noticing her inability to obtain it, the balloon said to her, "You're going to have to jump. Don't worry I float, so you will be absolutely safe."

The poor girl believed the balloon without a second thought. She took a handful of steps back in order to get a running start. She began her dash and at her last step on the edge of the cloud ground she lunged for the balloon. The girl had indeed caught it and immediately following began plummeting towards the earth, soon after that she began screaming.

When her throat became dry from the constant piercing cry, she asked the balloon ,"I thought you said you could float? This is not floating! This is falling! You said I would be safe!" The balloon was silent for a little while. The girl began to violently shake the balloon. The balloon responded, "Oh!? Yes, what is it? I'm busy right now. Give me a few minutes."

They likely had not even a quarter of a minute from the length of time they were falling and their initial velocity. Just before they were about to splat on the hard concrete the balloon began emitting a strange noise. The girl stopped in mid air inches above the ground. In the next moment gravity returned to her and she fell flat on her butt. The girl stood up and rubbed her backside in hopes of subsiding the pain.

She asked the balloon what had just happened. The now deflated balloon told the girl, "I was too busy to respond because I was trying to tell when I would need to expend all my air in order for you to not be squashed. And don't worry, I'll reconstitute myself in no time, for I am a magical balloon! Hahahaha! Now then, let's get back to the matter at hand, I must return to my master." The girl asked how they were supposedly to do that. The balloon was silent for a few seconds, he then answered with a I'm not sure.

And so the journey of the girl and red balloon began! What will they do next? Will the girl ever return home? Or perhaps, could her home come looking for her? Find out next time!