Fly in a Hot Air Balloon

Posted by Marci on Dec 2, 2010 in | 0 comments

I’ve always dreamt of flying – to spread my arms like wings and float on the air currents. I longed to swoop through the sky, the only sound being the wind rushing against my face.

As I stood on the large fan that blew air into the colorful canvas, my body vibrated like a jackhammer as the sound pulsed in my ears. I didn’t feel peaceful. Blasts of fire burned my face as the pilot heated the air in the balloon – it’s bright, rainbow rising in the cool morning.

“Let go of the fan and hold her down,” the pilot yelled.

The crew jumped into action as the balloon began to take flight without passengers. We threw our bodies onto the basket as it bounced along the landing strip.

The pilot jumped in and told me to follow. I looked at the wicker basket. That’s all it was, a tiny basket that could fit three people. A moment of fear hit me, but I wanted to fly. I climbed in and the ground crew released us. 

A flame shot through the air, and I wondered how it didn’t burn a hole in the thin material. We climbed higher. The cars below became small dots, the people doll-size. We moved with the wind, finding pockets of cool air that lifted us.

The landscape opened. In the distance the risen sun glistened off the last of the winter’s snow in the Sierras. Cows moved in herds along the farmland. Off in the distance I could see our sister balloon gracefully moving across the sky.

The pilot closed the gas valve. Silence. Stillness. The feeling of floating through the sky. I lifted my arms outside the basket and felt the cool air on my arms. I looked up at the balloon, its colors bright against the blue sky and I thought to myself, “This is what it feels like to fly.”