The Balcony

Chapter 3

She sat and stared at the piece of paper in her hand. This was supposed to be music? She was not much of a music listener and had stopped turning on the TV a while back so she didn't know what kids listened to these days. She tried to calm herself down as the "music" started to play again. She took a few deep breaths and picked up the pen to write:

"In which galaxy?"

She lobbed it back and waited on the floor. She didn't want to risk a third fall. But this time, the ball did not return. Instead a square object toppled into her balcony near her feet. She reached across to pick it up and saw a slab of chocolate staring back at her. She read the words and laughed despite herself. It read "Milky bar."

She picked up the blanket and walked into the hall to warm up her dinner for the day.

The noise continued to play. She walked out with her plate of food and balled up another note and threw it with another smiley ball. It said, "Is the music from planet Pluto?"

She got back a reply almost immediately, "Cold."

She tossed back, "I got it! Martian music. Am I right or am I right?"

The returning note read, "Getting warmer..."

She wrote, "Solar?"

She got back, "The Sun for the first time in its history is cold."

She laughed and threw back, "Er...."

The next note said, "Almost there. You can do it. Although you need to work on your spelling."

She shook her head and replied, "Go away!"