Red Balloon

The Red Balloon

"....!" Reiko's eyes fluttered open. "What..?" She realised she was in bed, in her own room. "I was....dreaming?!" Rushing out of bed and shoving her feet into the slippers, she searched for her cell phone.
Beep beep *press buttons*  "13/07, 7am...It can't be..." She then hurriedly fumbled through her wallet and she found two passes to Disneyland. Reiko tried to call him but the line could not get through. "What is happening? Didn't I...die? I better check on Keito first. If its still that day, he should still be--" Reiko got changed into a basic black tee and denim shorts, and ran out of the house, ignoring her mother's yellings.

Step. Step. Step. As she reached the lobby, a red helium balloon greeted her. A paper tag was tied onto the string. "Take me" It read. "Did some kid leave it here?" But there was no children or even anyone else at the lobby. "Whatever..no time to waste!" Brushing the balloon aside, she ran out of the flat, took a cab and headed for Keito's house.

Pant..Pant... "Its 7.30am...he is still at home, right?" She pressed the doorbell and waited impatiently for someone to answer it, but no one came.  "erm...AUNT MARY? KEITO? ARE YOU IN? I'M REIKO!" Still silence. Reiko tried calling the his cell but still no connection. Just then, the doorknob turned and the door slowly opened. "...? K-Keito?" An empty living room came into view. No one seemed to be even at home. It was too quiet. Slowly creeping in, she closed the door behind her and made her way to Keito's room.

"....? AAAAAAAAAAAAAH" Reiko shrieked in pure terror and trembled in disbelief. "NO...NO..NO NO NO!
 On Keito's bed laid a badly disfigured corpse. The badly torn clothing on the body looked like the ones he wore to Disneyland that day. The room suddenly smelled fishy from the blood that covered the body and bed sheets. "Why...?! I thought..it isn't time yet! I made it early, didn't I? How come he's already... *uncontrollable sobbing*

Keito's body was also covered in dust and ash like those on the road. It was clear that he was knocked down by a car she saw that day. She ignored the horrid stench and approached the bed, holding up a lifeless hand of his. "Keito...no..." Kissing it, she felt a strange coldness radiating off his skin and onto her warm lips. He really was dead.

"WHY?! I THOUGHT THIS WAS ANOTHER CHANCE?! WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO DO?!" She yelled at the top of her lungs to no one in particular. Reiko just thought that some being up in heavens was kind enough to give her a new chance to stop Keito's unfortunate fate. But it did not seem so. "..?" Out of a sudden, she felt something plastic like touching her arm. It was the red balloon again. This time, it looked older than usual. The bright red colour was fading off and the once smooth and glossy layer on it was replaced with greyish dust. "Wait...I saw you before...But when..?" The crumpled paper tag was still attached to it. "Take you? ...You..can help me?" She gently took hold of the string and pulled it towards the bed. " Can you...save Keito?" A breeze blew into the room and the stench of blood was gone. Keito's body returned to normal and he was breathing, but seemingly asleep. "R-Really?" The paper tag flipped to its other side and words were written on it.

"..." After a long thought, she smiled. "Deal."

The paper tag then detached itself from the string and a warm glow filled the room. As Reiko started to lose her conscious, she held Keito's hand once again and smiled happily. "I'm coming...Keito." The red balloon floated up to the ceiling and disappeared soon after.

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"...? Reiko! Did something happen? I tried contacting you for the past one hour! Wanted to head over to your house, but the bus did not turn up..."

"Keito!" She said, leaping into his arms and cried tears of joy.

"..?! why are you crying? Did something really happen? Tell me, Reiko !"

"N-No.." She looked up fondly at his shocked face. "I just...had a real bad dream that you left me..."

"Silly...you know I would never do that, right?" He answered, bending down to meet her teary eyes. "Now..let's go shall we? Don't wanna miss the bus!"

"Haha....yes!"

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(on the bus)

"So where do you wanna go first?"

"Hmm--"

"Oh shit, look, Reiko... I think there's an accident there. Look at that car wreck! I hope no one was injured. Drivers these days really are reckless, aren't they? Sigh . "

*clutches hem of dress*

"Oops sorry, what were you saying just now?"

*silence*

"... Um...Reiko?"

*loosens grip* *shocked*

"You...okay?"

"O-Oh! Y-yes! I was just saying there is this fantastic laser cart game---" The girl smiled,

               her usual sunshine smile.

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End of part 3

"The Red Balloon"