Changing course

The Balloon Garden: A Fantasy for Young and Old
By Debra L. Karplus

It was June and the flowers were in full bloom. Jupiter Grade School was closed for the summer. The children had gone home and would not return until September. The principal’s office was lifeless. The hallways were silent. All the classrooms were dark and empty. The bulletin boards were barren. The chalkboards were a dull green with no evidence of homework assignments. The desks were arranged in tidy straight rows and were free of textbooks and papers and pencils. No Little Mermaid backpacks or Star Wars lunch boxes could be found in the cloak room. No school buses could be seen anywhere near Jupiter Grade School. The teachers from Jupiter Grade School complained that they were bored and had nothing to do.

Then, Mrs. Path, the science teacher, burst out with an idea. “Perhaps all the teachers from Jupiter Grade School should go on a field trip?” she suggested.

Mrs. Tripp, who loved teaching social studies seemed to relish the idea but questioned, “Where shall we go?”

Mr. Hite, who taught math, summated “I think we should all go visit the moon. None of us has ever been there.”

“Could we go there is a space ship?” chimed in Mr. Ayres, the music teacher.

“That’s a superb idea”, interjected Mrs. Path.

Mr. Widget, the school custodian, constructed the space ship from supplies in the janitor’s closet. Miss Frame, the art teacher created parts of the space ship with paper mache, pipe cleaners, and crepe paper. She painted it with bright yellow acrylics, and decorated the back with fancy black racing stripes. Mr. Steer, the school bus driver, agreed to pilot the space ship.

So, the teachers from Jupiter Grade School prepared for their field trip. They packed all the clothes they would need. They also collected some of their books. Mrs. Tripp’s navy canvas briefcase contained an assortment of necessary maps so that they would not make any wrong turns. Mrs. Path carried her laminated chart of the solar system so that they could find their way. Mr. Hite stored a scientific calculator in his powder blue colored shirt pocket, so that they could measure the number of miles they had traveled. And, Mr. Ayres packed a boom box and gathered some of his favorite CDs to share while they traveled, including Frank Sinatra singing “Fly Me to the Moon”, Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata”, and the Beatles “Ticket to Ride”. Miss Rice, the lunchroom lady, made ready sloppy Joes on whole wheat sesame seed buns and potato chips and small cups of chocolate pudding with tiny flat wooden spoon-like utensils so that the teachers on the space ship would feel nourished.

The teachers met on the playground at Jupiter Grade School. The students from Jupiter Grade School gathered nearby and waved good-bye to their teachers, as the students happily frolicked on the swings and slides. The teachers stood tall and proud as they promenaded onto the space ship.

Mrs. Stay, the second grade teacher, could not participate in the field trip because she had forgotten to bring her signed permission slip. Mr. Ride, Jupiter Grade School’s well-respected principal, took attendance to make sure all the other teacher’s were aboard the space ship and were properly wearing their seat belts.

The space ship carrying the teachers from Jupiter Grade School shut its doors and departed from the school. As the space ship left the earth, the teachers peered out its tiny windows in awe. Mrs. Path pulled out a spiral notebook from her khaki backpack and began to take notes as the space ship sped through layers of clouds and traveled far beyond the planets and the stars.

The teachers from Jupiter Grade School were so animated and were feeling joyful. They agreed that they had stowed all the necessary articles for their long awaited field trip to the moon. Mrs. Tripp’s maps were extremely helpful to prevent them from making any wrong turns. Mrs. Path’s laminated chart of the solar system was also very useful for aiding the teachers to find their way. Mr. Hite’s scientific calculator was beneficial, too, for measuring the miles they had traveled. And Mr. Ayres certainly kept his promise of providing appropriate entertainment for the journey with his eclectic assortment of CDs.

The teachers from Jupiter Grade School were finding great pleasure in the music from the CDs as they soared through the skies at great speed in their space ship. They began to harmonize to the music. They clapped and they danced. It seemed they were no longer even paying attention to the maps that Mrs. Tripp had carried onto the space ship. They were no longer studying Mrs. Path’s laminated chart of the solar system. And, they were no longer making use of the figures on Mr. Hite’s scientific calculator. Much time had passed. Many miles had already been traveled.

And then, rather spontaneously, the teachers made the deduction that they had, in fact, made a turn in the wrong place and had veered off in the wrong direction. As they looked out the tiny space ship windows they now noticed that nothing looked familiar. It seems they were no longer headed toward the moon. This realization caused a hush amongst the teachers from Jupiter Grade School as they pondered, with an unexpected seriousness, what they should do.

They decided to hold an assembly to make some decisions about what to do. Mrs. Path, the science teacher, thought they should experiment by continuing in a new direction. Mrs. Tripp, who loved teaching social studies, suggested they go back to where they started and get back on their intended route. Mr. Hite, who taught math, thought they should travel along the hypotenuse since it would be shorter than the sum total of the routes.

Then, Mr. Ayres, the music teacher, had a look of astonishment appear on his wrinkled brow as he peered out the tiny space ship window. In the distance he spotted something. Initially, he was unable to determine what he was looking at. First, he noticed shapes. Then, he spotted colors.

As they traveled further he could see that there were miles and miles of many bright colors. It seemed to be a huge bountiful garden of many colors, but then he concluded that what he saw were not flowers at all.

And they were moving. Not really moving, but bouncing. No, not really bouncing, but bobbing. “What could all those colors be?” asked Mr. Ayres to Miss Frame in wonderment.

The space ship continued to soar beyond the planets and the stars. As the space ship approached the garden-like colors, Mrs. Tripp made the discovery of what they were all really looking at. “A balloon garden. That’s what this is, a balloon garden. Those colors we see are balloons. Millions of balloons! They are all the balloons that boys and girls from all over the world have lost.” Mrs. Tripp wisely acknowledged. “From birthday parties. From carnivals. From Afghanistan. From Monticello. From Anywhere. From Everywhere. All the lost balloons must end up here!” she remarked with strong conviction. Some of the balloons were red. Some of the balloons were purple. Some of the balloons were yellow. Some of the balloons were twisted into funny animal shapes. Some of the balloons looked like flags from faraway countries. One of the orange balloons had “Go Illini” printed on it in large blues letters and was shaped like a football.

Some of the balloons were attached to long white strings. Some of the balloons were attached to colorful curly ribbons. And some of the balloons strings were attached to each other in a loose knot.

The space ship neared the place where all the colorful balloons were floating. The space ship gradually slowed down and then finally came to a halt and became silent. The teachers from Jupiter Grade School felt a bit wobbly as they marched off the space ship with curiosity.

As the teachers from Jupiter Grade School approached the millions of balloons, they reached out. And then they carefully transported each and every balloon one by one onto their space ship. Much time had passed before they had gathered all the balloons.

And then, the teachers of Jupiter Grade School embarked onto their space ship. And this time they actually used the maps that Mrs. Tripp, the social studies teacher, had brought. And, they actually used the laminated chart of the solar system that Mrs. Path, the science teacher had brought. And, they actually used the scientific calculator that Mr. Hite, the math teacher had brought. And, they joyfully listened to the CDs in the boom box that belonged to Mr. Ayres, the music teacher. And, they successfully navigated their way back to earth.

And, when the teachers of Jupiter Grade School returned to earth, they distributed each and every balloon one by one to the boys and girls all over the world who had lost balloons.

The teachers had big smiles across their faces. Their summer field trip had never taken them to the moon as they had planned. But they were able to bring happiness to all the boys and girls from all over the world who had lost balloons.

And so, to all students of life, your homework from the teachers of Jupiter Grade School is to remember that even if you are not on the path that you had intended to travel, life often takes you to a much better destination.