Tawbi the Hot Air Ballon Rider

Hot Air Balloon Riders have always impressed me. I was never bored of watching those big balloons flying over me with some persons which I had never met before and had a bizarre skin colour. One day as a Balloon Rider came to me and asked me a question, but the question was in a language that I couldn’t understand at that time. Well I was only 5 years old and I was called Tawbi. Yes, Tawbi that was my name.

Now I am 9 and I go to school 1 hour a day and 3 days a week just like all of my friends. As usuaI after school I went to see the ballons take off. I didn’t care about my friends laughing at me because my curiosity for those balloons was greater than anything. However today was different. As I arrived there was nobody in the bucket bellow the balloon and I thought that it was Buddha that had given me a sign and I grabbed the only hope I might ever have of going inside a hot air balloon.

As I climbed in the bucket I noticed that the sky’s eyes were closing and that the bright holy light of the sun was slowly getting more and more dimmed. I didn’t care as I was so impressed by all the valves and containers that made the fire start that I didn’t notice the Devils Cloak being put around me. As I fiddled around with the control I accidently turned on the burner and a roaring yellow flame blasted out of the burner and went flying into the balloon. As I tried to stop it, the balloon took off and rose to height of 1000 meters. I was in the sky, I was leaving the greatest experience of my life. I could see my house and all the tiny people below me vociferating me orders in the same language that I couldn’t understand. Just as the flame shot up in the ballon so did my the excitement I fell when I took off. However this was short lived as the dagger of the devil sliced through the closed eyes of the sky and landed a few meters in front of me. I was scared to death. The burner was still roaring. The people were still shouting orders which I couldn’t understand, but more importantly I was in the devil’s hands.

When I woke up the next day I couldn’t distinguish my home town of Bagan anymore. I could only see white powder on the ground. I felt cold. The burner had gone silent and the only sound I could hear was my own breath and, the wind. This wind that was driving me further away from my home. This wind that was taking the last drops of energy that I had out of me. This wind was, Death’s breath coming to me before he took me to his home. I was starving. I felt my head go numb. I slowly drifted away and though of my mother one last time.

Without realizing I h d fallen asleep I woke up in a strange environment. The trees were grey, hard and cold. The noise was like the sound waves had turned into sharp razors. They were cutting throw your temples as if it was butter. The smell was revolting. I was indeed in Hell. As I went off the Balloon. As I walked down the road I saw a lot of people who had grey faces and didn’t talk to each other. Everything was wrong in here all the surfaces were grey: the roads, the trees and even the people! Suddenly fear crept in as I thought that I was going to stay here forever I fell to the ground, my eyes started to water an became blurry and I cried. I cried like never before. I cried and cried but people just went around me without even looking. Until this person came. This person was dressed in bright colours he had a smile on his face and had the same clothes as mine. Not the same black clothes that people wear around me. He came to me and said:

-Why are you crying young boy? Where are your parents?

I was shocked I understood him. I said:

-You speak my language?

The man laughed loudly and said:

-Of course I do I come from the same country as you. You even wear the costume of my home town of Bagan.

- But we are in Hell

-No, he said laughing, we are just in Shanghai. It is very different form our country.

I cried again. He took me in his arms and comforted me:

-It is over you are safe now I will take you home.

At the end of this trip to Shangaii I finally understood that Buddha putted us in an environment that we should stay in. Even thought you always want to know what is beyond the mountain you only realize how precious your home is, when you put a mountain range between you too.