THE DANCING STAR - CHAPTER 4

  CHAPTER 4 of THE DANCING STAR

After being with our three friends sliding up and down the Rainbow Slide, they began to chase a cotton candy cloud they had seen passing by, and the trio lost them from sight. The merry apprentice witches were hopeless.

Above Roger Rococo Rose-Without-a-Thorn, Othello Meow, and Adelade the Star there came a thin purple haze that spread as light as a bridal veil, and a thousand lilywhite crystal snowflakes began to fall all over the valley. And the great show of the ice ghosts of the first snows of winter was a prelude to the white sheet that spread towards the Lake of Balloons. The Lake of Balloons was a large lake full of balloons of every size and colour. The popcorn spirits were their gatherers. And those who cared about the balloons to sort them according to size, shape, and colour, but above all, what they liked the most was playing with them. The oldest and wisest spirit, who knew the most about these balloons, was Adolphus Kindred-Spirit. Not only did he partake in the gathering of balloons, he had another task he enjoyed a lot; he gathered in a water tower the sweet rainwater, the treat which popcorn spirits are most fond of. Adolphus Kindred-Spirit, who had quite the sweet tooth, was always kissing the tap of the water tower.

Roger Rococo Rose-Without-a-Thorn, Othello Meow, and Adelade the Star were very fond of asking questions, and they asked solely for asking's sake, and Adolphus Kindred-Spirit replied only for replying's sake:

"Where are all these balloons from? And what are they?" asked the three friends.

"These balloons," responded Adolphus Kindred-Spirit, "are wishes. Mrs. Autumn Fog makes them, as well as some winds that dedicate themselves to these duties. The Sunrise Wind makes the blue balloons, while the Sunset Wind makes the yellow ones. The North-by-Northwest Wind makes the green and red balloons. Though they are also flowers, who grew weary of being rooted and then became balloons. That's why there are poppy balloons, jasmine-scented balloons... Balloons are also foam, and they are formed exactly in the same way that soap bubbles are. Long long time ago, balloons were bubbles that coursed down the waters, the waters of the Shampoo River. But the winds saw the bubbles and told them: 'Now you are a balloon. Come with me to see the wide world.' Balloons are hopes. Hopes which people keep eagerly in their hearts. And they flutter from place to place within the heart, hoping to escape, and when they escape the Lord of Twilight turns them into balloons. That grey balloon over there, with the sad cheekbones and the cherry-red eyes, was once a young gentleman," Adolphus Kindred-Spirit carried on, very excitedly. "In the bleak midwinter he put on a straw boater hat and walked the streets while singing. In summer he had his hair styled like a pompadour and walked the streets while laughing and singing. All of these things he did were outlawed by the laws of his homeland. But this was not the worst thing that occurred to him. He sneezed in a place full of people in front of whom it is advised not to sneeze, and the law sentenced him to death by hanging. And as soon as the executioner tied the noose around his neck, he turned into a balloon and some wind brought him hither."

"And are there always so many balloons?" asked Roger Rococo Rose-Without-a-Thorn.

"Now there are quite few new ones," replied Adolphus Kindred-Spirit, "it's been ages since the last ones arrived, it seems that as time goes by there are fewer and fewer wishes, and fewer bubbles and flowers and hopes."

"But sometimes," said Adelade the Star, "wishes do come true. And flowers are for real as well. And hope flutters from heart to heart like a butterfly in springtime, like a burst of colour which fills your eyes with dreams."