BELC_ Vol 1 (5) (1)

"I asked the three kids, ‘Who put the paper ghosts on the
mailboxes?’ The children all shrugged.
"I got back on the blimp.
"Next day, I picked up a couple. They asked me to take them to
Golden Lotus, a Chinese restaurant in a strip mall. I was
hungry so I went inside the restaurant to order take-out to eat
on my flight home. As I was waiting, I saw an old man’s
birthday party at a big circle table with a stained, white table
cloth. Everyone ‘round the table looked jolly and happy except
the birthday boy. He wasn’t really a boy though, must’ve been
having his 95th birthday. He sat immobile, his face
expressionless, neither pain, nor pleasure. He blew out his
candles and then slowly took a bite of gelatinous green
dessert. My order arrived and I left.
"Third day, that last day, I picked up a family with their picnic
basket. They asked me to take them to the top of a dune by the
beach. I sat there a while looking at the waves and the kite
surfers. I saw a man down by the shore dragging a large
suitcase through the sand. He was close to the water and his
bag kept getting hit whenever the break came high enough.
Whenever the water touched the bag, the man would curse
loudly, but he just kept walking close to the water. He walked
far enough down the shore and I left when he was but a tiny
speckle in the setting sun.
"It was too expensive to keep the blimp, I decided. Only three
days, but that was enough for me. I deflated it. It’s out in the
shed gathering dust. You can have it if you want."