The Red Balloon

Recently, Porter & I made a "short" trip to the grocery store to pick up a few things. While we were there, an employee walked by with a bunch of red balloons & offered Porter one. He gladly accepted & spent the remainder of his cart ride bopping me in the head with it. I was thankful for the distraction that kept him in he seat & let it slide. I kept telling him he needed to hang on tight to the balloon, but being this was his first helium balloon "experience," the warning didn't stick. We were standing in the checkout when he suddenly let go & away it went, floating up to the ceiling. A look of fear, panic & anger suddenly came across his face & out came the loudest cry you could imagine. Waterworks soon followed. So there we were in the checkout...it's our turn...I'm looking around frantically trying to find that damn balloon girl again. Our cashier was one of the nicest men & soon saved us both from our misery. He asked what was wrong...(His exact words were, "What's wrong, Brother?") I told him he lost his balloon...He said he'd take care of it. Within seconds across the loudspeaker came "We need a balloon for a little boy in Lane 10...We need a balloon for a little boy in Lane 10..." Out of nowhere, the balloon girl appeared (Where was she when I was looking for her?) & happily got Porter another balloon. This time, she tied it to his wrist.