And A Red Balloon

And A Red Balloon

Officer Cam Ziglar walked into the hospital room. He looked at the face of the man swathed in bandages to see if he was awake. As if sensing his presence, the patient slowly opened his eyes.

“What exactly happened, Seedy?” Ziglar asked as he sat down on the chair beside the bed.

“It came out of nowhere and it was beautiful!” Seedy Appleton said dreamily.

Ziglar pulled out his mini recorder and turned it on. He listed those present as well as the date and time.

“Could you repeat that last part?”

“It came out of nowhere and it was beautiful,” the homeless man replied.

“What was it?”

“The roundest, reddest, shiniest balloon! I haven’t seen the like since I was a balloon man in the circus.”

“What did you do when you saw it?”

“Why, I followed it, of course, man! I kept trying to grab the sparkly string that was hanging down so tantalizingly, but every time I came close, it would bob forward out of reach,” the injured man explained.

“How long did you follow it?”

“The sun was setting when it got tangled in a tree. I climbed up to get it down when it suddenly burst! I got hit with some mixture of gas and liquid right in the face! I screamed and fell out of the tree, hitting every branch on the way down, I swear!”

“Will you be okay?” Ziglar asked gently.

“I hope so, if it weren’t for this teenaged kid dressed like a clown, I might not have ever gotten help.”

“What was his name, did he tell you?”

“I asked him as they were putting me into the ambulance.”

“Did he tell you?”

“He looked me in the eyes and grinned.

“Call me IT. “