The Red Balloon

Her name was Anita. Anita was a young girl who loved to go to school. She packed her bags every Monday with a zeal like none-other. She also loved to play outside her home with her friends.

Her day normally began at six thirty, she would get ready and a school van would pick her up, drop her to school. On weekends, she normally spent her time drawing, painting and singing along with her grandmother, who lived with them.

Anita had a fascination towards red that had caught on early in her childhood; she bought red cars, red dresses to decorated her Barbie dolls, the red crayon was her favourite crayon and the red dress was her most obvious choice for her birthday with strawberry cakes and red candles to top it off.

It was on one of those random Sundays that Anita and her parents decided to take the day off and visit a local park to enjoy the pleasant weather. Anita got ready quite early, with a red frock to go along with red ribbons to tie her hair. Her red shoes shone bright red and completed the picture.

The park, as usual, was a place of chaos that had so many visitors, the young and the old, the just married couples to the ones still dating, tiny toddlers to some energetically young senior citizens. There were merry-go-rounds, ice-cream shops, chat stores, balloons, and the guy who carried with him the bubble-blowers. There were trees all around, small ones, tall ones and rather timid ones that housed a variety of insects and birds.

Anita’s dad carried her on his shoulder, her giggles found their way to her parents who strolled along the serene boulevards of the park. She loved this seat on her dad’s shoulder, often called the queen’s seat by her mother — she had a view of the entire park and all its happenings. Everything she saw left her in awe.

The afternoon sun was enjoying his customary tea and slowly transitioned into his playful self by painting the sky orange and preparing to head home. By then, Anita had found the balloon-seller and had made sure that she held in her possession two red balloons that she neatly tied to her hands.

The parents decided to sit under a tree and relax while Anita played. She found everything interesting; the trees, the crows and mostly the squirrels — she chased after them. She was always in and around her parents but slowly drifted away into the park until she was certain that she was lost.

She turned around and no one she knew was around her, they were all strangers — every one of them tall and bigger than her. Puddles of tears stood in line to flow down and touch the ground. She ran here and there, further getting away from her parents, who, by then, had noticed her absence. They too frantically began their search to find her. Her father was crying too, her mother held her tears and searched for her girl in red.

Against the fading light, her red dress stood out. She had come to a clearing in the trees, a small patch of land with an open sky. She could not appreciate the reddening sky. Her eyes were red with tears and one of her red balloons had burst away, while the remaining one that she had tied to her hand was almost on the verge of flying away, getting lost in the sky.

As it unburdened itself from her hand and rose to the sky, her sobs got even more intense. She just sat there and cried. Her last red balloon had taken to the air, but little did she know that it would save her in the end.

In their search for their daughter, the parents asked every passerby, if they had seen a young girl decked in red, two red balloons tied to her hands. Every query seemed to be in vain until they too lost their way and ended up at the edge of the small patch of free land.

There it was the red balloon; hanging in the air just long enough to be caught in the teary-eyed gaze of the mother. She ran towards the balloon, her voice shouting Anita, Anita, Anita.

The little red balloon had saved the day.