The Tales of Huckleberry Hound: Season 4

13. We're In the Air!

One day, Huckleberry Hound and his best friend, Snagglepuss decided to take their scooters out to the park to do some cloudgazing. They both stretched out on the grass under the old oak tree where they always loved to spend time and looked up into the sky. They both felt very peaceful staring out into the atmosphere, and they could see all kinds of shapes before their eyes.

"Oh!" Snag said. "I can see a cloud that looks like a big tall mountain! Perhaps it's Mount Everest...Kilimanjaro, even!"

"I see!" Huck replied. Then he pointed. "Hey! That cloud looks like a boat! See the sail?"

"I do, I do!" Snag smiled. "That one next to it almost looks like a bunny rabbit! See its ears? It's fluffy cotton tail, even?"

"Oh, yes, I love bunnies!" Huck beamed. "Ooooooh! Look at that one! It looks like a dog! Just like me!"

"Ahhhhh, I see!" Snag replied. "And I can see one that looks like a car! Vroom, vroom!"

"And there's one that looks like a train! Chugga, chugga, choo choo!"

"And that one over there looks like a cat..."

"With a bird on its head!"

The duo broke into laughter when they heard a noise from the sky. They looked up and could see some small airplanes gliding over the park. Huck let out a heavy and dreamy sigh as he watched the plane sail away, with some birds following a little ways behind it.

"You know, everyone says it's such a silly dream, but sometimes I wish I could fly," the hound said softly. "Could you imagine how lovely that would be? Just flapping your wings, all graceful like? Soarin' over the world, free to go anywhere you want?"

"But Huck, you don't have wings," Snag said. "Nor are you a bird. And besides, not all things that fly have wings."

Huck laughed. "I know that, Snag. But a hound dog can use his imagination, can't he?"

"Of course! There's nothing wrong with that. But if you want to fly for real, there are ways to do it, you know."

"Well, that's true. I've been on an airplane before, and I flew all the way to New York City! And I've been in a helicopter too. But I wonder if there's a little more quieter way to fly without an engine. Like...in a balloon."

"A hot air balloon, of course!" Snag cried. "Now that would be fun...except..."

"Except what?" Huck asked, sitting up.

Snag sat up and curled his tail around himself, shaking fearfully. "I'm afraid of heights."

"Don't worry, Snag," Huck said. "I'm right there. And besides, remember when we went on the Ferris wheel?"

"I do, but we were only going around and down again. I don't know if I could handle flying for real!"

"Well, I won't force you, Snag...but I think it's a healthy thing for you to try to conquer your fears. That way, once you try it, you might find that it's not so bad as you thought."

"Oh, okay," Snag sighed. "So where do you suppose we should start?"

"Well, it's only about eleven o' clock, so there's plenty of time to find a good place to try out a nice little balloon ride somewhere!" Huck replied. "Let's go check the airfield!"

"Where's that?" Snag asked.

"Just outside of town. We can get there real fast-like if we take our scooters!" He hopped on his scooter, and honked his horn. "Come on, Snag!"

Snag got on his scooter and followed Huck. It only took about ten minutes to get to the airfield, where they saw all sorts of little airplanes sitting around. Some were commercial airplanes, some were for recreational flights. But what the duo saw in the corner made their eyes light up with awe. There were at least five large hot air balloons! They couldn't believe how gigantic they were up close, and how many colors they came in!