Sunset

   7

 deer

 The children place their belongings into the balloon and Uncle Larry sets up the balloon.The desert glows coppery in the late afternoon sun and the passengers are ready for flight. Parmis sighs deeply, " It was a good thing that we got lost." Uncle Larry laughs, " That's right,  I had a pleasant day."

The desert is adorable when the balloon is floating across the orange sky. Although the Scenery is awesome, Uncle Larry still has the feeling that something is wrong with the balloon, it seems a little lighter!  Uncle Larry glances around quickly and notices one of the children is missing, then he asks somewhat frightened, " Where is Tina? did she get in?"

All eyebrows are raised in surprise. Armis cries, " Oh no, we left her. " Parmis says, " How? I myself saw her getting in." Mino admits her too. In fact, Tina got into the basket, but she slipped out with her iPhone a few minutes later.

" She's over there. " Armis says as waves a hand towards the river. Uncle Larry looks down and sees a fawn drinking water from the river, he looks closely and finds Tina standing behind a rock, taking a video of the young deer." Uncle Larry says angrily, " Call her." Mino shouts loudly, " Tina! Tina! Come here this instant."

As soon as the fawn hears Mino's voice, it scares and runs away. Tina also runs after it. Uncle Larry says, " Where is she going? Call her to come back." Parmis shakes her head, " They went away. We had to land now, she may get lost." Armis nods, " Yes, the deer runs much faster than our balloon." 

The balloon lands at the desert again, Mino tells, "Can we come with you, we're afraid of the dark? " Uncle Larry looks up at the sky, it is not yet dark. However, he agrees with her offer because he felt it would be wrong to leave the children alone in the balloon.


Tina chases the fawn, and the others follow her as swiftly as they can.  It begins growing dark, and the deer keeps on running fast; now Uncle Larry is out of breath, but he has to go on. The deer runs, and runs until it disappears and leaves Tina alone.

Tina stands staring into the distance, a teardrop shines in her eyes, she is tired , so are the others. Uncle Larry says, " Let's sit down for a little while, Remember we have to come back so soon." The little girls sit down on the ground but Tina, Uncle Larry looks at her until she notices him and sits beside the others. Uncle Larry asks, " Why did you leave the balloon?"

Tina, " I couldn't miss a perfect video. " Mino clenches her fists, " You are very Selfish. It's all  fault Uncle Larry, he shouldn't have recharged your iPhone."
Tina gazes at the sands, " Sorry, I'm fond of making video.   I breathe with it, believe or not."

" Come on! it's getting too late. " Uncle Larry says as they get their breath back, the little girls get up and head silently for the balloon, when they reach the same place, their eyes grow wide in surprise, Mino asks, " Where is the balloon?"
Armis cries, " Someone has stolen it."


Uncle Larry points at the sky, " It's over there . what's next surprise?"
Mino, " Who are they? Where were they until now?"
Parmis, "Gee,  the balloon's flying too low, it'll hit the cactus."


The robbers are a few men who are standing in the basket, and ridding a few feet over the cactus, they wave and the children wave back.
Mino frowns, " Dumb Girls! you all drive me mad, they've stolen our vehicle." then begins shouting at the balloonists, " It's ours-- Bring it back."

The men only laugh, and wave them goodbye. Our passengers look very disappointed, Parmis sits on a stone, and shouts at Tina, " You are to blame for all this mess." and bursts into tears, " Oh, My flight to Canada will be missed."
Tina, " Don't raise your voice, Parmis."
Armis cries , " We'll die of thirst and hunger."
Mino, "  Hope still glimmers as we have the river."
Armis cries, " Anyway, we will die."

Uncle Larry brings a bitter smile on his face, " No, we won't. Don't cry, we'll save. A town must be nearby, but we have to walk faster. "
The children look unhappy, they feel very tired out. Parmis asks, " So we'll be in Canada tomorrow, won't we?"
Uncle Larry shrugs, " I don't know. "

It has gone by about an hour, they go stamping along the river that they get to a group of men are walking quickly, a glimmer of hope emerges in their eyes, the tribe joins the group happily.
The men look Mexican, uncle Larry asks them, " Are you Mexican?"
One of the men shakes his head, " No, now we all are American," and bursts into laughter, so do the other men.
Uncle Larry smiles, " Where are you going?"
The group's leader, " To town."
A grin spreads across Uncle Larry's face, " Great, we're going there too. Can we come with you then?  we just missed our vehicle."
The leader, " Your vehicle?"
The children, " Our hot-air balloon."
The men look at one another and start laughing loudly,  the tribe is shocked by their laugh , the leader says, " The balloon was yours then? we saw it, a few friends of ours have borrowed it."
Mino clenches her fists, " Loan? you must be joking."
The men knit their brows, uncle Larry signals Mino to keep quiet, then smiles at the men, " the town is nearby then? "
The leader, " The nearest town is about  a mile away," he adds grinning, " You can come with us. You are very lucky as I'm expert, Don't worry about work, I will deal with them, money talks."
Uncle Larry says with embarrassment, " I have no money now, I left our belongings in the balloon."
The leader smirks, " Something for Nothing?  I'm sorry ,Man."
 Uncle Larry, " My family will pay your fee, trust me, Man."
Mino points at Tina, " Let her pay, she's wealthy."
The leader stares at Tina's iPhone, " No, it isn't enough, I talk about more than ten thousands."
Mino, " Please accept this, We will pay the remaining soon."
Larry turns to Tina, " Can you lend me your iPhone till tomorrow?"
Tina begs, " No, I can't lose my iPhone, Please."

Armis, " Whose fault is it that we missed our vehicle?"
Parmis, " Of course, Tina.  if she hadn't got off the balloon, we would arrive in the town by now."
For a few minutes Tina hesitates, then she hands her iPhone to the leader in tears, and they all go on moving towards the town.

Ten minutes later, they hear the sound of guns firings and the border patrol surround them, the leader runs away, but an agent fires into the air, he says, " Don't shoot, I surrender."

Uncle Larry and the girls are frightened and happy at the same time, Parmis says to a BP agent " We're looking forward to seeing you, our vehicle is stolen."
The man's eyes grow large, " Your vehicle?"
Uncle Larry, " Our balloon, we want to inform you that our balloon has been stolen."
The patrolmen begin laughing at them, one of them says, " Oh, I see. You crossed the border by balloon, you are arrested."
Uncle Larry, " Don't pull my leg, I'm an American from head to toe."
The BP agent says laughing, " All these men say the same, you are all American and I'm fed up  with listening to all this talk."

 Ignoring Larry's words, the patrolmen arrest them and deport to Mexico.

Uncle Larry is  in for a big surprise again?

Best Wishes

 M.T☺

M.T☺