mmm. A balloon story... Let me think." Storyteller placed a finger along her warm brown cheek and tapped it several times, pensively. Then, all of a sudden, there was an amazing racket! Tremendously loud noises came pouring out from the trees behind Lali's house!
*WHOOSH!* *WHOOOOSH!*
Deetle Dog howled and ran under the porch to hide. Lali felt scared. "Storyteller, _what_ is that horrible noise? Is it a dragon? It _sounds_ like a dragon."
"No, Lali! Something much better! I know that sound - that's a hot air balloon! And with it that loud... Sun and stars! It must be going right-" She stopped, grabbed Lali by the shoulder and turned her to look up over the trees. "Right there!"
Storyteller pointed up over the tallest tip top of the tall, tall tree, and there it was! A beautiful hot air balloon, striped in all the colors of the rainbow. A wicker basket hung from the bottom, and three smiling people waved and shouted "Hall-OOOOO!" And the balloon was gliding down...
"They're going toward the park!" cried Lali.
Storyteller flung back her head and laughed joyously. "Today, we make our own story! An adventure! Come, run!" Storyteller took Lali by the hand and they ran together, whip-zip! past Mami in the workshop.
"What is it?" she called, "Where you going?"
"Balloon! Come see!"
"Cool!" hollered Mami, and she ran after them. Whip-zip! They ran past Dadi in the hammock, asleep with the paper over his eyes.
"Wake up, Dadi," Lali shouted. "Balloon!"
"Wha...ohh...hmmm?" asked Dadi, stumbling up on his feet.
"Balloon!" cried Mami. "Come! Run!"
Dadi blinked up at the floating colors. "Whoa, neat!" And he began to run too. All along the road they ran, Lali and Storyteller and Mami and Dadi, and even the neighbor's dog, who was braver than Deetle. The balloon was floating just ahead of them, dropping gently, down, down toward the wide open space of the playing field.
As they ran up to the edge of the field, a brown haired man with a moustache got out of the basket, and placed an anchor weight on the ground. A rope went from it to the balloon basket. Then The man held out one of his heavily gloved hands and the young woman took it and climbed out of the basket while he steadied it for her. Next, the younger man got out. The balloon bobbed up a bit, tugging on the rope.
The young couple hugged, then shook hands with the older man. "He's the pilot," said Mami. "C'mon, let's go say hi!"
So they all introduced themselves to the man, who was Pilot Tom Stevenson. "And here's Diane and Allan Foster, my passengers," Tom said. "They're celebrating their wedding today!"
"What a wonderful flight!" cried Diane.
"A terrific idea, my heart," said Allan to her. "I'm so glad you thought of it!"
"We flew over a lot of houses along your road," said Pilot Tom, "so I'm suprized there's not more people here to see us."
"I guess everybody else is away at work or at school," said Dadi.
"We're lucky," added Mami. "We work and learn at home."
Lali nodded. "Storyteller's lucky too, that she visits us today!"
"Indeed so!" agreed Storyteller. "And what a fine tale this will make, too!"
Pilot Tom got out two bottles from inside the basket, along with a package of cups. "Traditionally, we carry a bottle of champagne to give to the owner of the land we set down on, as a thank you," he explained. "Though lately, I've taken to carrying a bottle of fruit juice, too. So, since we set down on public land this time, we can all have some!" He passed around the cups and poured. Lali and Dadi and Storyteller had fruit juice, while Mami and Diane, Allan and Pilot Tom sipped champagne.
"Ah! Here comes my ground crew!" Pilot Tom declared, pointing to the main gate. Sure enough, a bright blue truck with Up and Away! Balloon Tours on the side was pulling in. It drove on up, and a tall sandy haired man got out.
"Hey, big guy, it took me a little while to find a crossroad after the wind shifted you, but here I am! Got any juice left?" Lali handed him a cup and Tom poured some.
"Folks, meet my partner, Will Provost." Will smiled and nodded, and everybody smiled back. "Will, these folks are from down the road, and Lali here," he patted her on the shoulder, "has never gone up in a balloon before. What do you think, have we got time for an ascension?"
"OK with you?" Will asked Diane and Allan.
"Sure, we've got time."
Lali was dancing around with excitement. "I get to go up! I get to go up!" she cried happily.
"Tell you what, Will," said Tom. "I had the long flight this time. How about, you take a turn?"
"Sure enough!" grinned Will, and he put on the heavy protective gloves. Tom steadied the big wicker basket as Will climbed in. Mami got on next, and Dadi handed Lali in to her. Then he got in too. "Now, when I fire up the flame to make the hot air, it will be noisy," Will reminded them. "Lali, cover your ears if you need to." Lali nodded.
So while the young couple stayed on the ground, talking with Storyteller and Tom, Will took Lali and Mami and Daddy up in the air. It was wonderful! How strange to look down on the tops of the trees, and the roofs of houses. Lali had climbed way up in the tall, tall tree once, but this was _much_ higher! They looked all around, amazed at how far they could see.
Will sighed contentedly. "Man, I never get tired of this, no matter how often we go. Still, we do need to pack down and drive back, so I guess we'd better descend." He opened the vents that released air from the balloon, and gently they sank back to the ground.
Everyone got out, and then Will opened the vents even more, and the balloon leaned over sideways, then gradually collapsed on itself. When it was down, Tom and Will took the balloon loose from the basket, carefully spread it flat, and then Diane and Allan, who had done it before and knew how, helped them fold it up and pack it away on the truck. Then Tom and Will got in the front seat of the truck, and Diane and Allan got in the back seat of the long cab. Everybody buckled seatbelts, then waved as Will drove off.
Lali sighed with contentment as they walked back to the house. "That was soooooo cool! I'll remember it a long time!"
"Indeed so," agreed Storyteller. "And I have a bright new tale to tell to the others along my way. And there's daylight left for walking, so on I go. Until next time, go well, everybody!"
"Walk well, Storyteller!" they answered.
Then Storyteller put on her pack, picked up her hiking stick, and went her way humming, hmmmm, ummmmm, mmmmmm, until the next week.
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