Wednesday, 5 Sep 07
Flight
The balloon slipped out of her grasp neatly, almost as if it were evading her on purpose. She snatched after it in a paroxysm of terror but the string floated easily, smoothly out of reach; the red curve glinting smugly in the sun like a wink as it went on its way.
She bit her lip and watched it go, her heart quietly emptying itself out. A hand landed on her shoulder, but her eyes never left the sphere soaring joyfully away into the sky.
“You can always get another,” he told her, his voice rough and warm with comfort.
She shook her head. “It’s not like that,” she said, sounding weary and strangely adult. “You don’t understand. I wanted that one.”
“You never know when you’ll get another. And maybe this time it’ll be even better than you expected.”
“Better than this?”
“Better than this one.”
She smiled, and it lit up her face like sunrise.
“I can’t wait.”
JADEITE