Juno’s Balloon Booth Surprise — Under the winter park trees, Juno rubbed glue from his fingers and tied his newest heart balloon to the booth rail. The paper smelled like paste and strawberry marker. Read the full story →
Under the winter park trees, Juno rubbed glue from his fingers and tied his newest heart balloon to the booth rail. The paper smelled like paste and strawberry marker. He had cut every curve himself, even the wobbly one that said LOVE, and he wanted the whole bench path to bob with hearts before the noon bell. His friend Cleo held up a balloon and squinted. “This one looks like it ate a marshmallow,” she said.
More balloons joined the string forest: tall hearts, short hearts, stars on sticks, and one accidental lumpy heart Juno secretly liked best. The ribbons went swish-swish in the cold breeze. Juno stood back, cheeks warm with the proud, prickly feeling of making something from plain paper and tape.
Then a squirrel in a tiny knitted vest hopped onto the bench, tapped the lumpy heart, and stamped it with a muddy paw. Behind him, three pigeons wore bottle-cap badges. Cleo gasped, then laughed. The “inspectors” approved only the handmade ones, especially the crooked LOVE balloon. Next time you spot the balloon with the word on it, check whether a muddy little pawprint could still be hiding near the string.
