On Foot
Ari walked down the dusty road towards the city, knowing even as the sun dipped towards the horizon that back in his own world the night sky would be lightening and that he was running out of time to be home before anyone noticed. He’d been walking for over an hour, and while the city was noticeably closer, he realised there was no way to get there before night fell. What was he going to do?
He felt a tug of hope when he crested a hill and spotted a seller with a wagon and stall by the side of the road, selling bric-a-brac. She was about his own age, but while he felt lost and out of place here, she seemed right at home, and confidently asked as he approached, “Evening traveller! You looking to make it to Bucklesplit before nightfall? Roads are pitch black this time of year, no fireflies yet.”
Ari considered this. Bucklesplit. Fireflies. Right. OK. “Yes, well, no, I’m actually looking to get back down the other end of this road before it gets dark, but I’m worried it’s too late.”
“You’re from Boxton?”, she asked with surprise. “You don’t look like a boxdweller.” She looked him up and down. “In fact, you don’t look like you’re from here at all.” Her gaze settled on his shoes. “Tell you what, I think I can help, but I’m guessing you don’t have any gold.” Ari shook his head, realising he wouldn’t be able to buy anything he needed in this world. “I’ll do you a deal - give me those fancy shoes you’ve got on, and if they fit me, I’ll get you back to Boxton in the time it takes to walk five steps.” This sounded like a pretty good deal! He kicked off his shoes, she picked them up, inspected them closely. Her own feet were bare. She slipped them on, tried them out and grinned at him. “Perfect fit!” She reached behind her to a stand of different coloured and shaped balloons, searched for one in particular, and took down an inflated blue balloon, handing it to him carefully. “Here - see that little clip on the bottom?” she showed him the clip, it could be opened and clicked closed again. “When you’re ready, open the clip and inhale the air inside. You’ll find you can pretty quickly get where you need to go. But there are two important rules. One – hold the air in as long as you need it, and two – when you’re finished, blow all the air back into the balloon and seal it closed. Oh, and I’d recommend closing your eyes whenever you’re sucking air in or blowing it back out.”
Ari held the balloon feeling excited and maybe a little silly. What if he’d just given this person his shoes in exchange for a balloon? “Wait!”, she said, grabbing his arm and walking him a dozen paces from her stall. “OK, now you can do it”, as she ran back towards her stall and he put the balloon up to his mouth. He opened the clip, closed his eyes and breathed in while the balloon deflated. He felt…funny, sort of dizzy for a moment. A brief rush of wind from above and then nothing. He opened his eyes and almost shouted, but managed to hold the air in as he fumbled with the clip and closed the balloon back up. He was in the sky! Looking around, he was just above the clouds, and yet he wasn’t flying. Looking down he sputtered a little and felt himself drop in height a tiny bit. He was still standing on the ground, because he was the height of ten houses! Still holding his breath, he looked around and got his bearings. To one side, the city he now knew was called Bucklesplit. To the other, the woods that he’d left by paper airplane. Glancing down at the stall, the seller was waving. Ari gave a silent thumbs up and, still holding onto the air in his lungs, he strode towards the woods.
Just like she’d said, it was only a matter of four or five strides and he was standing in the field where the portal to his bedroom was. As he lifted the balloon to his lips and fiddled with the clip, he heard a curious sound that he realised too late was a small, terrified scream, just as a paper airplane with two tiny people in it crashed into his eye. “Owwwwwww pppphh!!!!” Ari said, feeling himself drop through the clouds towards the ground as he breathed out hard, the closed balloon with its little bit of air inside, still held in his hand and closed his eyes as he dropped, the combination of falling while standing making him feel dizzy. He realised he was breathing out the entire time he plummetted, and that he was breathing out much longer than made sense…like he was breathing out more than the air he’d breathed in. As he kept dropping he felt the air resistence get stronger, whipping the balloon out of his hand. He shut his mouth and clapped his hand over his nose and suddenly the dropping stopped. Afraid of what he’d see, he slowly opened his eyes.
In front of him was was the toilet roll bridge he’d crossed through over and over…except now it towered over him like a skyscraper. He realised with some panic, that even though he could see the door to his dressing gown in the distance, he’d shrunk not down to his normal size, but to something much, much smaller.
The sky grew darker and he could see the dawn light shining through the portal to his room.
What a day! And: what now?