How Far Can a Balloon Go?

I win a balloon at the fair.
I feel on top of the world.
Until it slips from my fingertips
and my world comes crashing down.

It floats on high, out of reach
and I cry wondering where it will go.
Mom holds me. I smell her perfume.
It’s hard to let go.

But maybe tears play tricks.
I clean my glasses to make sure.
There, in the sky! A hot air balloon appears
where my red balloon was before.

I sway up in a basket
under flags of red and gold.
I hear a sound like dragon’s breath
and feel the heat upon my neck.

I’m flying!
In my own hot air balloon,
above the games, the rides, the thrills,
above the crowds below.

I climb over white mountains.
I could eat snow like ice cream.
Clouds roll in. I see my breath.
Water hangs in air.

CRACK!
Lightning splits the sky.
Winds play shrill in this orchestra
with rain and thunder drumming.

Tossed and rocked and thrashed about,
water everywhere!
Am I on the sea?
Or still up in the air?

I emerge to a sunset grand and gold.
City lights glint far below
and mirrored in their lights above
the stars begin to show.

I soar
and Earth rounds beneath
with oceans wide and deep
and all the blues you’ve ever seen.

Faster and faster I fly
with planets whizzing by
until I burst
into a galaxy of stars!

Then I hear my mother’s voice
calling me back to Earth.
I whisk away from the Milky Way
and speed past the planets to home.

I discovered where a balloon can go today…
Who knows where I’ll go next.