It has been two weeks since I saw the red balloon from the window of room 20D and I couldn't stop thinking about it. It consumed my thoughts and all I wanted to know what was it meant. "Am I going crazy?" I ask myself that question everyday. Where did it come from? Why was it just floating? I thought at one point it may have wandered off from a child's birthday party but that theory was quickly debunked since the university building was no where near any appropriate places to host a child's party. Also, why was it so low to the ground and how did I just stop? "I'm going crazy."
It was Saturday morning and I decided to go for a run. I'm not athletic, not in the slightest, but running helps when I'm under a lot of stress or need to forget about things for a while, and I definitely needed that at this moment. I put on my workout clothes and sneakers and headed out. I make my way to a local trail and begin my run.
The scenery was beautiful, tall trees lined either side of the wide trail and the colourful flowers were bloomed in bunches by their roots. I was just about finished when all of a sudden, I kicked something, which made me stumble to a stop. I was shocked and a bit disoriented, but then I looked down at my feet to find what I had tripped over. There, about a foot away from me was a small music box. I, of course, was very confused and was sure I was hallucinating. As I turned to continue my run, not wanting to deal with whatever that was, the music box began to play. The song coming from it was slow at first but became increasingly faster and louder. The anticipation and pure shock was too much and I couldn't move no matter how much my brain was screaming at my feet. The music box began to blare it's sing- songy tune so loud I thought my ear drums would burst. Then suddenly, it stopped. Pure silence filled my surroundings and I stayed perfectly still in place. Then *bang* the music box opened and a small carnival clown began to sing. I exhaled and finally my feet listened to my brain and I ran all the way back to my dorm room. I locked the door so quickly my hands could barely grip the bolt lock at the top. I fell to the floor with my back against my door and started to cry from shock. I had no idea what had just happened and just kept replaying the events in my head like a movie. Then I realized something... the clown in the music box...was holding a red balloon.