She wakes up suddenly. Her drowsy eyes struggle to open; she rubs her eyelids, and hears a loud wailing coming from outside. Her nightgown is a purple frill; she searches under her bed for her soft slippers, and opens her large window to see what is going on. A cool summer breeze hits her, waking her up more, as the full moon sprinkles the houses around her with a white coat.
“All aboard!”
She hears it again, but doesn’t see where the sound is coming from. Her short curly hair bounces as she motions her head to gaze around the neighborhood. All the houses seem tranquil like every night; no motion at all, not even a lone light is on inside any of them. She knows there is no train nearby, nor is their any other type of transportation—or at least that is what she thought.
“All aboard! Last Call!”
She is compelled to find out what exactly is going on, so she climbs out her window, landing on soft moist grass, and runs in the direction of the voice. A piercing whistle burst through the night. She runs down the cobble streets, noticing no one is out tonight, and still seeking the source of her waking. Finally after a few blocks she sees it; a gigantic white hot air balloon, bigger than she has ever seen it—even though she has never actually seen one close-up—is parked on a hill near by. She can see an endless amount of people steaming out from the balloon like a fuse waiting to be lit. She walks closer and eventually reaches end of the line of people that await departure. She is nervous at first—she is not sure what she is witnessing, and neglects to converse with anyone. The people seem calm and don’t bother to even glance at her while they wait.
The line moves quickly. In the seconds that she stood in line, she closes her eyes—tiredness hits her, and when she opens them she notices she is next.
“Name!” A hefty man, with a circular brown beard, and large cheeks asks her loudly.
“Huh, what?”
“Name please!” He repeats, not even glancing at her, only the piece of paper on a wooden clipboard that he holds.
“Cyndia Cummens?” She replies, unsure of who she is at the moment.
“C, C, Cyndia…” He slowly pulls down the clipboard and stares down at the young girl in front of him, she smiles cautiously. “Are you supposed to be here Cyndia?”
“I am not even sure where here is.”
“Why this is the express balloon to heaven!”
She tilts her head in defiance of that idea. She has never known there was actually a heaven—especially that to get there you have to ride an air-balloon. She looks around her and doesn’t see anyone, she is alone; everyone is on the balloon already.
“There is a heaven?”
“Why yes! But it isn’t the same type of thing that you people tend to believe in.” He explains, smiling warmly.
“Were all those people dead?”
“Some.”
She isn’t sure what to think at this moment. She has always had a fascination with the afterlife—if there is one—but never expected to be presented with an actual answer.
“Can I come?” The words escaped her before she even realized she was going to say them.
“Why no! Of course not! You are not on the list!”
“But, you just said that you don’t have to be dead to go there.”
“I did, but you need to be seeking death to.”
She has never sought death—has she? Even so, if there is a heaven, why not kill yourself now to experience it? She doesn’t have a bad life, but it is not entirely good either.
“What if I am seeking death?”
He laughs loudly, holding the top of his head.
“Child, you have no idea what it is like. How could you possibly seek death?”
“I have seen a lot in my life.”
“But not enough.”
“I have experienced a number of sorrows.”
“But, you don’t truly understand what those feelings mean.”
The whistle blows again. The husky man glances back and notices another person gesturing his hands to come aboard. He gazes back at the young girl and pats her head playfully.
“When it is your time, you will see it. Not tonight though child. Till then…”
He swooshes her hair in front of her eyes and as she recovers he is gone. The balloon is already lifting into the air. Dust and grass begins to fall off the wicker bottom of the balloon. She sits and watches it float into the sky and as she does she notices more balloons rising into the air from different places. Each has a distinct color; sharp red, light blue, bright orange, and lime green. There are hundreds of them! She sits and smiles as the sun journeys upwards over the horizon. After a few minutes the balloons all vanish from sight.
