Eliza and the hot air balloon

One of Emma and Eliza's earliest adventures as Eliza says "Dreams really do come true"

Eliza and the hot-air balloon

One spring morning Eliza woke very early, she had been having the most amazing dream. She had been soaring over the clouds watching the patchwork world of fields and hills zooming along below her. She had swooped and swished through the clouds and flown through mountains, a golden eagle showing her the way. She had watched the sun come up and turn the clouds to gold as the moon and stars winked their way to sleep. She landed with a bump. She rubbed her eyes and blinked in the morning light and found, much to her confusion, that she was on the floor. “I must have rolled out of bed, silly me!” She thought. She hopped up and scampered across the room to the window where her seat was, and bounced first onto the seat, then on to the arm and finally on to the back of the chair. Ever since Eliza had come to live with Emma the chair had stayed in exactly the same place. Every time Mummy or Daddy tried to move it back to its original place in the room Emma would appear and say “Please don’t move it, Eliza likes to watch out of the window.”, so it stayed.

 

As she watched out of the window this morning the fields came to life as the sun rose high into the sky. Eliza had been here some little time now and was starting to get to know some of the creatures that came to visit the garden from nearby woods and fields. She waved as Mrs Blackbird supervised her chicks at breakfast and to Mr Hedgehog as he ambled through the garden. She watched as two playful squirrels leaped from branch to branch in the trees that grew along one side of the field.

 

When Emma woke they went to breakfast together. As they walked in to the kitchen Mummy was just putting some orange juice down on the table.

“Morning Mummy.” Yawned Emma.

Eliza sniffed, she could smell pancakes. She liked pancakes VERY much indeed.

“Morning you two, did you sleep OK?” replied Mummy.

“Ummm, where’s Daddy? Is he not up yet?” asked Emma pouring some juice. Eliza hopped quickly and quietly on to the table and had a quick drink of orange juice.

“He’s just packing the car, now eat up.” She said as she put a plate of pancakes down in front of Emma and Eliza. A little while later, when all traces of the pancakes had vanished and Eliza sat licking her lips, Daddy popped his head around the door.

“Morning sweetheart,” he said to Emma “are you ready to go yet?”

“Where are we going Daddy? Will you tell me yet? Please!” She bounced up and down slightly trying to look as cute as possible in the hope that he might give in and let her in on the secret. He smiled back at her.

“Nope, you’ll see soon enough. Come on now, upstairs and get ready.”

Emma leaped off her chair and zoomed upstairs. She felt so excited about the surprise she thought she might explode.

“And don’t forget to brush your teeth.” He called up the stairs behind her.

 

Eliza meanwhile was still sitting on the table, she too was very excited. Her tummy swooped and fluttered and danced as though it were full of butterflies. Once she was sure that everyone had gone she got to her paws slowly and tiptoed to the edge of the table. She looked around, turned and lowered herself off the table and dropped silently to the floor. She listened, ears pricked for any sound of movement. She could hear Mummy and Daddy talking in the living room. Little heart beating like a drum she zoomed, as quickly as a fluffy ball of lightning, across the kitchen floor out of the door and into the garden. She flashed passed Mr Hedgehog so fast and gave him such a fright that he sprang into a ball and rolled under the hedge.  Along the side of the house she scampered to the corner of the house where she stopped and poked her head round the corner to check the coast was clear. With one great leap she dived through the back door of the car which stood ajar. She climbed on to the parcel shelf and settled herself with her back on one of the head rests and waited, rather impatiently for Mummy, Daddy and Emma to come out of the house.

 

It seemed, to Eliza, that it took a very long time for them to come out. It was in fact only about 10 minutes, but time plays tricks on you when you are such an excited Bunny. Finally Daddy came out, followed by Mummy and a little while after Emma appeared at the door.

“Mummy! Daddy! I can’t find Eliza, have you seen her?”

“No dear, the last time I saw here was in the kitchen” replied Mummy.

Daddy had been bending down looking in the car and saw her on the back shelf.

 “It’s alright, she’s here Em. She’s in the back waiting for you.”  Mummy and Daddy got into the car. “Did you put Eliza in here?” Mummy asked quietly.

“No I thought you must have done.” Daddy whispered back.

They both turned in their seats and looked at the fluffy shape in the back window.

Emma reached up on tiptoe and pulled the front door closed with the big brass handle in the center of the door. Once it had closed with a small thump Emma skipped happily across to the car, hopped into her seat and pulled her door closed.

 “There you are little rabbit!” reaching Eliza down from the shelf.

“Right,” came Daddies voice from the front of the car “everyone ready? Seat belts on? Good, off we go then!”

They glided out of the drive, the gravel crunching underneath the wheels, soon hedge rows and fields flitted past the window.

 

Sometime later, it seemed like forever to the two very excited critters in the back of the car, the pulled into a car park quite near to a broad, shimmering river. The river danced, sparkled and glistened like it was covered in diamonds. The tall grass and reeds swayed gently in the breeze as the family strolled along the river bank. Emma had put Eliza in her backpack from which she was now poking her head out of watching the beautiful scenery and enjoying her ride. Soon they came to a small bridge that arched across the river, spots of light danced on the underneath of the bridge.  When they crossed the bridge they turned right and walked a little way to some benches.

“Time for our sandwiches I think” Daddy said, and flopped on to one of the seats.  After Emma, with the enthusiastic assistance of Eliza, had finished her Jam sandwiches they both went down to talk to the bucks who were sunbathing in the shallows. The ducks were a friendly bunch, Eliza chatted to them happily and Emma watched the bees buzzing about to and fro and fish jumping happily in the river. And Eliza found out, much to her surprise, that ducks can actually fly. Daddies voice floated down to them “Come on Em, it’s time to get going again.” Eliza hopped back into Emma’s bag and they both said goodbye to the ducks as the headed back up the river bank.

“Are you going to tell me yet Daddy?” Asked Emma as she caught up to them.

“We’re nearly there now, it won’t be too much longer”

“Ohhhhhh!” groaned Emma “Mummy, will you tell me?” Emma asked bouncing in front of her.

“I can’t, he won’t tell me either” She poked her tongue out at Daddies back. Emma giggled at her.

“I saw that!” said Daddy, but he smiled and brushed on along through the grass.

“Aha! We’re here.” They had come to a country lane, high hedges on both sides. The chimney of a cottage poked over the hedges a little way along the lane. “I’ll be back in a second, you just wait here.” With this he vanished around the corner in the direction of the cottage. 

A few moments later he reappeared. “Come on then, this way.” He said and they all followed along the country lane. The hedges were alive with buzzing and twittering, song birds singing with joy as they walked along. They came to a gate in to a great, big, flat field with a tractor and trailer parked just inside. Eliza climbed out of Emma’s bag, slid down the strap that dangled down behind her and dropped on to the floor. Daddy set off towards the middle of the field.

“Come on slow coaches!” he called over his shoulder.

 

Right in the middle of the field was a giant wicker basket, Eliza thought it looked like a giant picnic hamper. As they got closer Eliza could see what she thought was the biggest, brightest rainbow coloured blanket she had ever seen in her life. It was so big she thought it could only belong to a giant.

“Hello Joe!” Called Daddy raising his arm over his head to wave at someone Eliza could not see.

“Hello there, I’m pleased you made it!”

A man appeared from next to the giant rainbow blanket, he came striding down the fields towards them. He was wearing a blue flat cap, green jacket and wellington boots. When he reached them Daddy and the man called Joe shook hands.

“Joe this is my wife.” Mummy and Joe Shook hands too.

“Nice to meet you at last,” He smiled at her, “and this must be Miss Emma.”

He leaned forward and shook Emma’s hand too. “It looks like you dropped someone,” He bent down and picked Eliza off the ground, “We can’t be leaving her now can we?” He handed her back to Emma.

He looked back to Daddy “Do you want to take the girls back next to the tractor?” He suggested, “and we’ll finish getting ready.” When they got next to the tractor Daddy lifted Emma on to his shoulder and Emma put Eliza on her shoulders, they didn’t want to miss anything. They watched as Joe and some others flitted around the rainbow blanket. Suddenly Eliza the dream she had had of flying and realised what the giant rainbow blanket was. There was a roar and a bright orange flash that reminded Eliza of a dragon she met once in the toy shop she used to live in. The rainbow blanket started to lift slowly off the ground getting bigger and bigger.

“Daddy, is it a balloon?” Said Emma suddenly, leaning forward and hanging her head upside down in front of Daddies face.

“It is indeed, and we’re going for a ride in it!”

Both Emma and Eliza bounced up and down with excitement. The dragon roared again and the balloon stood up high into the sky, taller than a house and more colourful than a dream of a rainbow.

“Over you come, it’s time.” called Joe from next to the picnic basket.

 

A few minutes later they were all standing in the basket. Above them was the vast, colourful globe of the balloon. Emma could see a thin strip of sky between the top of the basket and the balloon. She tugged gently at Joe’s trousers.

“Mr Joe,” squeaked Emma, who was feeling very nervous. The butterflies that had visited Eliza that morning were now fluttering in Emma’s tummy. “What makes the balloon fly?”

Joe looked seriously down at her. “Well Miss Emma, in here”, he tapped a little silver box which had a cage on top that was hanging bellow the hole in the bottom of the balloon, “My little pet dragon stays in here and when I pull this” he pointed to a chain hanging from the cage “a little bell rings inside and he breaths fire up in to the balloon, and that makes us float up in to the air.”

He pushed some heavy bags off the side of the basket, “here we go then.” And they started to drift towards the sky.

 

There was a chest in one of the corners of the basket Emma stepped on to the top of it and held on to the side of the basket very tight so she could see. Daddy, who was standing next to her put his arm around her to keep her safe. Eliza was still sitting on Emma’s shoulders, holding on tightly too. This was an awfully long way up for such a little rabbit. Daddy took Mummies hand in his as they floated high into the sky. The fields drifted slowly away from the bottom of the basket as the climbed higher and higher getting smaller and smaller. They stretched out as far as the could see in all directions, soon they were so high the fields looked like a gigantic green and brown patchwork quilt gently siding up and down as though the bed hadn’t been made properly. The trees along the edges of some of the fields looked like dark thread joining the patches together. There was a small village, roads running in every direction from it making it look like a spider’s web, lights flashing here and there along its threads, the sun shining off car windows as the skittered along below. In the distance some hills grew gently upwards, purple with heather and the evening sun. They could see the river snaking its way through the fields; it looked from up here like a river of gold. It would soon be bedtime for the sun and the sky glowed orange, pink and purple.

 

As they glided along a Golden Eagle swooshed past them wheeling back and forth.  There they all stood, hand in hand, Mummy, Daddy and Emma, watching the sun drift lazily through the sky, a beautiful patchwork world spread out below them and an amazing dragon powered, rainbow coloured balloon above them. Eliza felt her little heart singing again, and if you asked her she would tell you that, with her super-duper ears, she heard Mummies, Daddies, Emma’s and even Joe’s heart singing too. She waved at the eagle who dipped one wing and then the other, it’s way of waving back. She sighed a contented bunny sigh and thought “This is a true adventure and dreams really do come true”.

Author's Note

All feed back much appreciated.