Susie finds a strange striped balloon that changes colour with her feelings. Then it rises into the air and begins tugging her across the garden toward the old tree.
It was a bright, sunny day, and Susie had just stepped into the backyard when she spotted something shining in the grass.
A balloon.
It was striped in colours that kept shifting, as if someone were painting it again and again while she watched. Susie crouched down and held her breath. The balloon gave a tiny wobble.
She smiled, and it glowed yellow like a bit of sunshine.
Susie blinked. She stopped smiling. The balloon faded to a soft blue.
She gasped, then grinned again. Yellow.
She puffed out her cheeks. The stripes turned green. She sighed, and the balloon went pale and quiet.
Susie’s heart beat faster. This was no ordinary balloon.
A little wind brushed the garden. The string lifted in her hand.
The balloon floated up.
Susie grabbed tighter, but it tugged once, then again, pulling her toward the old tree at the end of the garden. Its branches whispered above her, and the balloon rose higher, as if it knew the way.
Susie looked up at the dark space under the tree and felt the string pull once more. Something was waiting there.