Balloons

My name is Elizabeth Kaufman. My story began with a word as simple as... "Balloons". It started one Saturday morning when my family just moved in the neighborhood. I was only 8, and I loved balloons. Around 9o'clock, I decided to explore the neighborhood. While I was walking by, I passed by this purple house and I couldn't help but notice that there was a balloon tangled up on a tree near the house. So I just decided to grab it. I climbed the tree then when I was just about to grab it, I heard a voice saying "Hey, wait! that's mine!" then a hand popped out of the leaves at the other side of the tree and grabbed the balloon's string. So I grabbed the string near the end and pulled. But then the balloon hit the twig and it popped and we both fell off. And then we got into a small fight. But when we found out we both liked balloons, we knew we had a lot more things in common and became friends of course. So every year, when it's our birthday, we give each other balloons. Until now. So I just turned 15, and Gordon didn't give me balloons this year.  Instead he took me to a fancy hotel and then when I went in and opened my eyes, there were fifteen balloons around me and he told me to read them. The first one said: "Happy Birthday", the second one said: "You're my bestfriend", 3rd: "You understand"4th: "Balloons", 5th: "Us.",6th: "Smile", 7th: "Hi",8th: "I'll help you", 9th: "I'll be there", 10th:"keep calm",11th:"Whatever it takes", 12th: "I'll do it." 13th: "I care" 14th:"I like you" 15th: "I love you." when I read the 15th, I was shocked. And then soon he became my boyfriend a few days later. As the years went by, we soon wen to college and that's when we started to drift apart. We don't see each other very often anymore, and we only communicate through the cellphone and online. One night, while talking to Gordon on the phone, he told me he wasn't comfortable with "us" anymore. So then I told him "I guess like a balloon-" before I could finish he said "we just have to let go" and then together we said "And let it be free and go to a new place." Then he continued saying: "Though we're not "us" anymore, just remember that, I would always be there for you. Even if I have to release a thousand balloons."