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Description
Yellow Balloon
Written by - Captain FrightNite
“What happened?!”
“Where am I?”
“Get me the hell out of here!”
The screams and violence directed at him had all become a part of George’s daily routine, that never allowed him a ‘lunch break,’ so to speak. His job was simple enough, every-second of every-day for all eternity, he was forced to drive to the usual bus stops, pick up the miserable burdens of the world, bump over the same pot-hole in the ground every two seconds, before dropping them off at the gates of Hell.
All the while the graining sound of that annoying children’s singer, Peter Combe, sang ‘Spaghetti Bolognaise,’ over and over, blaring throughout the bus blending in with the cries of complaint. No matter how many times George tried to block it out, or even force himself to enjoy it, the sounds would echo even louder to the point where his ears began to bleed.
He knew someone very special to him used to love that song, but couldn’t for the life of him remember who it was. George shook his head, clearly aggravated and screamed for it all to stop, as the chorus of the damned tune flooded through his ears for the millionth time that day.
Unlike a yo-yo craze, Unlike a marble phase, I love it everyday, Spaghetti Bolognaise! I love it everyday SPAGHETTI BOLOGNAISE!!
This form of torture was bestowed upon him, from the Devil himself, for all the terrible things he had done on Earth, things he wished to God that he could remember. George wasn’t really a man of faith for numerous reasons, and after being sent to Hell…well, any small measure of hope he’d had in his old husk of a heart, left him with his final breath.
“All aboard!” he called to the 12 689 people that stood waiting at his next bus stop. The bus was the same as any other old school bus with nothing physically special about it, though it did surprise George how many people the bus could fit. Things were most certainly different in Hell.
He watched tiredly as each person took their seat, savouring the brief minute silence that fell upon his ears, every time the bus would stop. Bracing himself for the worst, George reached over to close the bus door before stopping abruptly.
A little girl stood waiting patiently on the dusty footpath holding a bright yellow balloon in her bandaged hand. George stared at the girl for a while, unsure at how someone so young and innocent could possibly be on a one way trip down south.
“Can I help you?” George asked quietly, surprised at how polite he sounded.
The girl stared back at him with a small grin on her face, her green eyes sparkling against the light the moon offered. She was wearing a soft, blue dress that fell to her knees, and her long blond hair was tied up in two pigtails. She was the most adorable thing he had ever seen.
“Are you George?” she asked, blushing slightly. Her voice was soft and filled with curiosity as she tentatively took a step toward the bus. George blinked a few times in shock. Never before had anyone on the bus ever asked for his name, let alone know it.
“Uh, yes,” George stuttered. Who was this kid? he thought to himself.
She smiled widely at the man’s nervousness, finding it incredibly funny for some reason, before climbing onto the first step of the bus.
“Oh good. I’ve been looking everywhere for you,” she replied, before taking another step. George glanced down at her feet as she moved forward and noticed that one of her shoes was missing.
“You have?”
“Mmhmm,” she nodded excitedly. “You’re a hard one to find, George.”
George opened and closed his mouth a few times wondering how he was supposed to respond to something like that.
“Who…who are you?” he asked.
The little girl took one final step until she was almost face to face with the bus driver. Her smile faltered slightly as she looked down at her feet, which she casually kicked at the ground.
“My name’s…not really important right now,” she mumbled.
“What are you doing on the bus?” George asked, feeling rather concerned for the poor kid. She glanced up at him and frowned slightly.
“Why don’t you close the door and I’ll tell you on the way.”
George wanted nothing more than to pick her up and take her off the vehicle. He had never driven a child to Hell and he had no desire to start now.
“Listen kid, you’re not supposed to be on here, alright. I have a list of everyone that gets on and off this bus, and there is no reservation for any children. At least none your age. How old are you anyway?”
The girl stared up at George feeling slightly hurt from being snapped at, and replied quietly, “Eight.”
“Eight?!” George exclaimed loudly, “Like shit I’m driving you anywhere.”
“George,” she stated clearly, “We’re already driving.”
George turned to stare out the front window and noticed that the bus was indeed driving itself.
“What the…” he started, but was cut off as one of the wheels bumped over a pot hole in the road. “How is the bus…?”
“Driving itself?” the girl asked, now sitting on the front seat. “Yeah, it’s always done that.”
George spun around to look at the girl in surprise. “How do you know that?”
“George,” she began, taking a deep breath, “My name is Lily. Lily Jefferson. A week ago, when you were ‘alive,’ you were doing the usual routine of picking up the kids and driving them to school.”
George stared at the girl silently, his features becoming a worried frown. Time had very little meaning here, but if he could give his time in Hell a date, he’d say it was close to a hundred years. He strained his brain as hard as he could to remember the name. The air around him become thin as he struggled to breathe. Lily.
“Just as you were pulling into the bus stop I was waiting at,” Lily continued, staring up at the yellow balloon she clutched tightly in her hand. “I ran out onto the street to get my balloon that I’d accidentally let go of. I forgot to look both ways like Mummy told me to…and…”
Lily cut off as fresh tears began to fall, not only from her eyes, but George’s as well. He stared at her for a moment in terrible agony, not physically, but emotionally.
“Lily,” he whispered. “Oh God. It wasn’t a pot-hole.”
Lily sniffed back the tears and looked up at George, who had his face now buried in his hands as he sobbed quietly. Only now did George notice how quiet it had remained inside the bus. There was no screaming, no violence…only silence.
Lily slowly rose from her seat and walked over to George. The young girl gently took his hands and pulled them from his face. The bus had come to a complete stop out the front of two large fiery gates. Destination reached.
“George,” she spoke lovingly, the way only a child can, “I didn’t come here to torture you with stories of how you killed me. I know it was an accident. I was too stupid and the bus was too fast.”
George stared up at her adorable little face and reached out to hug her tightly. Lily sniffled a few times before burying her face in his neck as she wrapped her thin arms around his broad shoulders.
“I’m so sorry, Lily,” George said, still crying, “I’m so sorry.”
“It’s okay, George. There’s nothing to forgive,” Lily mumbled as she let go of George’s shoulders. Her bright smile returned once again as she handed over the balloon, giggling at the way it wobbled in the warm breeze.
“You want me to have it?” the bus driver asked, earning himself a nod from the girl. “But why?”
“Because that is what will take you home,” Lily said. George blinked a few times not quite understanding what she meant.
“Home?”
“Mmhmm. We haven’t died yet, we’re just in that in-between state. I’m in a coma at the moment and you…well, you don’t remember cause you chose to forget, but what happened is, you kinda drank too much and went for a drive,” Lily replied. “You crashed.”
George chuckled, “Yeah, I think I get the point. So what happens now?”
Lily took a deep breath and placed her hands on her hips, the same way her mother did when she was trying to explain something. George smiled at how serious she was trying to look.
“Well, to get us back to ‘the land of the living,’ all we need to do is to pop that balloon,” she said, smiling at her own cleverness. George raised an eyebrow and looked around the bus. All of the people had now disappeared, presumably through the gates.
“That’s it?” he asked.
“Yep.”
“We pop the balloon?”
“Yep.”
“And then we’re home?”
“Pretty easy, huh?” Lily said, happily.
George remained seated in the old, worn out driver’s seat, still feeling like it could all be another one of the Devil’s tricks. It all seemed too good to be true. But what if this really was his way out?
“George?” Lily asked, startling him out of his thoughts, “I don’t mean to rush you, but I kinda really wanna get out of here. Like right now. So, ya know…pop it.”
George wrapped his arms around the balloon with Lily matching his movements. Please don’t let this be a joke, he prayed silently.
“Okay, on three. One.”
“Two.”
“Lily?” George asked, smiling for the first time in what had felt like years.
“Yeah?
“Thank you.”
Lily smiled brightly and looked back down at the balloon. “You too. Three.”
“Doctor!” a female voice called, “Doctor ***** awake!”
“Alright ***** just ****** easy. We’ll get a ****** remove ******, okay?” said another female voice.
“Lily…Lily…Lily.”
“What’s he saying?” came the first female voice.
“He’s ask*** for Lily,” answered the other.
“Oh my.”
“Hello George, my name’s Doctor Marshalls. Can you open your eyes again for me?” the Doctor asked, shining a pen light across his eyes.
“Lily,” George croaked, still slightly out of it. The two nurses looked up at the Doctor with sadness in their expressions. Doctor Marshalls sighed and responded with the only answer he could give the poor man.
“I’m very sorry, Mr Jefferson. I’m afraid we couldn’t save your daughter.”
George looked up at the doctor in surprise and asked, “My…daughter?”
“Do you remember what happened, George?” the Doctor asked.
George looked around the hospital room, lost for words. He couldn’t remember anything that happened. He stopped abruptly when he noticed something large in the far corner bobbing around.
“We managed to bring Lily back for a short time, which the only thing she asked for was a pen to write something down. Then we lost her.”
The sounds of the Doctor explaining everything fell into the distance as George suddenly realised what the thing in the corner was. A large yellow balloon, with three words scrawled on it in black marker read,
Love you Dad.
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You can NOT use my artwork or stories for any type of sell or publication without my written permission.
My work may not be reproduced, copied, edited, published, transmitted or uploaded in any way without my
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