Up Up and Away

A phone call is made at 11pm

The weather forecast is looking positive (despite all appearances to the contrary, looking out the window of our front room)

The alarms are set for 4.30am

Alarm reads: 5 hours and 9 minutes until alarm goes off.

I cry a little tear and try to fall asleep

The little one has other ideas throughout the night…

In far too short a time, cold flannels are applied to face in the vain attempt to awaken any interest or enthusiasm for this much-anticipated event.

Bleary-eyed people wait in a car park, looking towards a field, where a man stands by a Land Rover, taking measurements and making decisions.

And the go-ahead is given.

 

And the cold air is applied

And the heat is applied

And the basket is righted

And the force of gravity is overcome

And the ground pulls away

And the whole of Hertfordshire lies before us, with the mist and the dawn slowly clearing

And I am flying in a hot air balloon with my eyes closed, feeling the warmth of the flames and the breeze of the air

And last year did not happen

Or else it happened, and I survived and I am flying in a hot air balloon with the father of my little girl

And it was all worth living for

And it is all worth staying alive for

And it, too, passed.