garran: (Default)
Andy H. ([personal profile] garran) wrote2006-07-04 01:57 am
Entry tags:

Hunted

Since her birthday party (around the beginning of June), my sister has had a couple of helium balloons hanging around the ceiling of her bedroom. They're the sort that is a kind of flattened shape, rather than the more traditional rounded one, and both have happy face motifs; one has a whole crowd of faces, and the other, the one I'm concerned with today, has just one large one on each side, bordered by generic busy party colours. Until today, they've seemed quite content to stay there, mostly motionless, very slowly deflating.

Tonight I was heading back up to the kitchen after briefly being downstairs -- I was going back to prepare myself some iced cream, if you must know, since right now we have the unusual luxury of having both iced cream and waffle cones in the house -- and that balloon was there, hanging driftily about the living room landing, at right about my eye level. "That's kind of creepy," I said, but, since I wasn't expecting a reply and was expecting shortly to eat iced cream, continued upstairs without much further consideration.

Perhaps thirty seconds or a minute later, I glanced over in that direction and saw that it was climbing the stairs. Well, okay: to be accurate, it was drifting up the stairs. Slowly cresting the stairs; I could already see its eyes and all its smile. When I saw it on the landing I could have sworn that it wasn't perceptibly in much motion at all, but now it clearly had a firm momentum in my direction.

I hesitated, and went over, and grasped it by its tassle, and led it back down to my sister's room. It made no overtly hostile motions; its expression remained unperturbed. Her door was shut, and she hadn't noticed that it was gone. She says that it got out before, though, earlier today; the dog was barking at it.

I'm really not sure we can trust that balloon.

[identity profile] vegetius.livejournal.com 2006-07-04 04:11 pm (UTC)(link)
It's waiting for you to take a shower ...

[identity profile] 00kl4h.livejournal.com 2006-07-04 04:13 pm (UTC)(link)
The silent happy ones, you always gotta keep your eyes on them...

...in other news....
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

[identity profile] verselogic.net (from livejournal.com) 2006-07-04 04:52 pm (UTC)(link)
Neutral buoyancy ftw.

[identity profile] aemil.livejournal.com 2006-07-04 07:34 pm (UTC)(link)
hahahaha!

I enjoyed reading that =)

[identity profile] joshlamont.livejournal.com 2006-07-04 08:02 pm (UTC)(link)
TAKE IT DOWN! SUCK ALL ITS HELLIUM OUT! THE BROTHERHOOD OF LIGHT VOICES SHALL PREVAAAAIL!

Smile

(Anonymous) 2006-07-04 08:08 pm (UTC)(link)
It probably just wanted to tell you that it's
"ice cream". But I guess your's was in the past.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_cream

Re: Smile

[identity profile] garran.livejournal.com 2006-07-04 10:26 pm (UTC)(link)
I reserve the right to indulge in such archaisms as I find aesthetically preferable.


-Andy H.

Re: Smile

[identity profile] synchcola.livejournal.com 2006-07-05 06:34 am (UTC)(link)
Oh, so! Then, Mr. Garran - if indeed this is not some anarchistic pseudonym - you propose to make us believe that you are not hiding in the past? Probably from the police?

What's the date say there? '2006-07-04'? A likely story.

[identity profile] masamage.livejournal.com 2006-07-05 12:10 am (UTC)(link)
I say "Baby I'm home," she says
"Andy, I'm going out."


Awesome and creepy: an exploding balloon sounds like a gunshot.

By 'flattened' do you mean 'mylar'? (The metallic ones.)

[identity profile] feedbacksolo.livejournal.com 2006-07-05 03:35 am (UTC)(link)
*is pleasantly chilled*

I'm glad this was on my flist.