I take a deep breath before the world closes in on me. Filling my lungs with air, I breathe deeper. Deeper. Gasping until I wonder if I’ll burst.
Today, I am balloon. A hot air balloon, for what I breathe burns in my chest as I force myself to keep it in. I hide myself away. Like windows shut against an angry storm, I close my eyes and pretend I’m drinking in a cocktail of helium and oxygen. Enough for me to take flight. To lift off from the dreary drowning muck of despair…
The space around me has changed now. All at once I feel lighter. Freer. I dare a peak and am surprised by the sight. The tops of trees are a sea beneath me, and as I float upward I walk upon crested waves of dense woods. My jacket catches the wind and flaps around me like wings. I soar higher still. Soon I’ll be able to reach the clouds; a welcome escape.
When all the world below is out of reach, the silence of the heavens envelopes me. Here is where I can find my peace. I release my pent up breath and the burning in my chest subsides. I’m kept aloft by the tranquility of the moment and sheer will to stay here a little while longer.
Looking around I discover a new point of view. Some would call it God’s perspective. Up here in the heights everything looks different. Smaller and somehow less scary. My mind chases around a single thought, “I should come up here more often.”