Up and out in darkness for Scarborough today, weekend gone along with the sunshine, a long walk to the car, past the barriers and diggers that are littering the road as they replace the main drains – but I’ll save that for another post.Ninety minutes down the road, early morning, yawning in the cold grey light, traffic medium, nothing much happening, a very standard day, driving tired and bored to my bones.
Then, a glow of flame in the sky.
Look up. A balloon, a red hot air balloon, floating through the early morning mist and flaming-up to keep it hanging in the air.
It passes over, making me look up. The small boy in me yearns to pass through the windscreen, float up and drop into the basket swinging gently above. I want to go wherever the balloon is going, anywhere the balloon is going, drift away anywhere, the small boy and the middle-aged man drifting away - anywhere.
And if we did, would we ever come back?
I once journeyed in a balloon with Hans Pfaall.
ReplyDeleteMartin - save me a Google - Hans Pfaall?
ReplyDeleteCouldn't wait:
ReplyDelete"The Unparalleled Adventure of One Hans Pfaall" (1835) is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe.
I've read Poe - but not that Poe. I must check it out.
Alan Gregory commented on Facebook:
ReplyDelete"I'd love to try that too! Those drains and diggers sound so much fun don't they"
Flora Marriott commented on Facebook:
ReplyDelete"Phew, I won't have nightmares tonight. "
(in response to Ship of Fools).