Freely Adopted: Bright, Green, Mysteriously Floating Balloon

Avidan's eyes lit up as the man handed him the bright, green balloon, followed by the smile. He lifted his head back to look up at the green balloon which was brushing effortlessly across the ceiling. A look of amazement followed on Avi's face, "How is it possible that the balloon is staying up there and not falling back to the ground?" I could almost hear him thinking it. Even at his young age, he knew that something extraordinary was happening.

Never turning his gaze and attention away from the bright, green balloon, Avidan gave a quick tug to the balloon's string. Immediately the balloon responded, darting towards him, but only for a moment, when at last it gently floated back up, nestling itself safely against the ceiling. Avidan's face, still reacting in amazement and awe.

"Isn't that neat, Buddy? The balloon floats doesn't it?" He glanced at me for a moment, shook his head with eager agreement, and then quickly turned his attention back to the bright, green balloon still swishing back and forth against the ceiling. With that, Avi again tugged at the balloon string to watch the bright, green balloon travel up and down in the space between himself and the ceiling.

This went on for about an hour, over and over the same sequence of events. Avidan, tugging on the balloon string to force the bright, green balloon to dart towards him as he yanked, and watching the balloon as it made it's journey back up to touch the ceiling. Every time, with a sweet look of amazement and awe written in his big, round eyes, raised eyebrows, and the sweet countenance of his wide-mouthed smile.

Later that evening, after tucking Avi into bed for the night, I walked over to the bright, green balloon. Following Avi's example, I grabbed tightly to the string dangling beneath it. I then gave the balloon's string a quick, but firm tug, watched the balloon dart towards me for a moment, and then, watched as the bright, green balloon gently floated up to nestle itself safely against the ceiling.

I couldn't help but smile as I tilted my head back to look at the bright, green balloon. And, I couldn't help but whisper...