Balloon Messages
A young girl, no older than 15 was sitting on her front lawn on a hot summer day. She was just staring up at the sky, like she was waiting for something to happen. She did this from time to time, mostly to see if something would fall into her life and make it exciting. She rolled over on to her stomach to retrieve her cell phone. The screan read ‘4 NEW TXT MSG.’ She groaned and opened them one by one, then responding to them and rolling back onto her back. She saw something in the sky. She squinted to get a better view. It was round and bright red and it was floating down to her feet.
‘A balloon?’ the girl thought to herself as she picked it up off the green grass and looked at it. Attached to the balloon was a string and a note tied to it. The girl opened the note. "I know now you’re my only hope." The girl read aloud. She had heard those words before, there was something familiar about them. Now she was thoroughly confused. She took the balloon and her cell phone and walked into her house.
"What you got there Annabelle?" Her mother asked when she walked through the door.
"It’s a balloon, with a note attached." the girl named Annabelle answered.
"Well what does the note say?" her mother asked.
"I know you’re my only hope." Annabelle read off the paper.
Her mothers face jumbled up. "Isn’t that a song sweetpea?"
"Oh my gosh mom you’re right. " She said before running up to her room and sitting down in front of her computer. She went to Google and typed in what the note had said. Automatically she had a ton of answers to the song the words belonged to. Only Hope by Mandy Moore. She knew they where familiar. She ran back down stairs and told her mother.
Two days later Annabelle was outside again, in the same spot at the same time. A purple round object came into view and she grew excited. She grabbed for the balloon and ripped off the note in anticipation.
"Don’t know much about you’re life. Don’t know much about your world." She read. Annabelle ran straight up to her room and on to her computer. She searched the words and came up with a song and an artist. Taking Chances by Céline Dion. The rest of the day Annabelle searched her mind to figure out why someone would be sending her song lyrics via balloon. It was almost like they where trying to tell her something.
This continued for two weeks, every two days she would go outside and wait for a new balloon, a set of lyrics. She loved getting them. The lyrics where getting more and more personal. Songs she knew and loved where popping up as the messages. Annabelle was ready to get to the bottom of this. She was ready to find out who the secret balloon messenger was. She would get to the bottom of this, she had too.
There she was sitting outside waiting for another balloon. She finally saw it floating down in the sun. Butterflies grew in her stomach as she caught the green balloon. "Girl you’ve got me goin’ crazy, knocked me off my feet.- NJ" that was the first time she saw anything besides the lyrics on the note.
‘NJ?’ she thought to herself? She didn’t think she knew anyone with those initials.
She wracked her brain for hours on enc trying to figure out who this person might be. School was getting closer and closer with each day and she wanted to find this person before school started. She knew only a few things about them. But she assumed so much more.
Two days later a balloon came at a different time. It was the color of the first balloon. Red. Annabelle walked out to her yard and picked up the balloon. There was no note. She searched the ground, there was no paper. She looked at the balloon and there was writing on the balloon. ‘Odd’ she thought to herself. "I know you. But you don’t know me. You should try harder to find out." This confused her more than the first balloon did.
Later the same day another balloon came. It was too red, there was again writing on the balloon instead of a note. "Brown eyes, brown hair." They weren’t describing her. She had blue eyes. They must have been giving her clues about themself. She thought about the mystery person and the information they had given her for hours. Trying to make a connection. But like the balloon had said today she didn’t know the person, so it was almost impossible to make a connection.
It wasn’t four days until another balloon came. This time it was orange and did have a note. "5 foot 8 inches, with curly hair." This person wanted to Annabelle to find out who she was. It was all planned out. It had to be. The person wanted to be in contact with her. Annabelle was getting almost over run by the thoughts of the balloon messenger. She would sit and think of any possibilities, never coming up with one.
The next balloon message was one word. "Boy." That’s all Annabelle need to know to be completely determined to find this mystery balloon boy.
The last and final balloon that she ever received from the messenger was short and sweet. "234" This one baffled her. She went to her mother, her friends. No one could figure out the code to make her meet this boy.
Annabelle had completely lost hope on meeting the boy. Summer was over and she hadn’t accomplished what she wanted most. Her and her friend Claire where out for a relaxing bike ride on the road behind her house. She wanted to check out the new kids in town they moved in earlier this summer. The pair rode down ‘Lynn Road’ in search of their new town members.
Annabelle could see four boys on the front lawn of a white house, playing wiffle ball in the near distance. As Annabelle rode by, the boys smiled and the youngest waved. Annabelle looked at each boy but when she saw the last one her breath caught in her throat. Everything matched. Brown eyes, brown curly hair, 5'8, boy. She looked at the number on the black mailbox. "234." She smiled and looped around in a circle to go back to the house.
She hopped off her bike, and walked up to the white fence in front of the boys. The boys looked at each other and walked over to her.
"NJ?" she questioned. The boy smiled and nodded. She leaned over and gave him a hug, he was again surprised but relaxed into the embrace." Annabelle pulled back. "I’m Nick." he said, still smiling.
"I believe you already knew my name." Annabelle said smiling. Nick smiled and nodded again. Annabelle looked over at the three boys next to him, they all had the same look of confusion on their faces. "Hi, I’m Annabelle." She stuck out her hand for each of them to shake. "Wanna play?" Nick asked hold up a plastic bat.
"I’d love too." She answered walking into the yard and into Nicks heart.
