Words Unlock Worlds

time's a tether

Airless balloons.

Flimsy little things, leaving her hand in irate momentum, and falling short.

Descending to the roof tiles.

Small rubber birds losing flight.

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"You're wasting decent party balloons."

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It was 3am when I met her.

It was 3am and it was some sort of rage.

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"No, I'm not. They're still decent after I chuck them. I just get to--"

Another balloon fell.

"--chuck them."

-

She was a flightless balloon, I later discovered.

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***

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Her balloon's tether was one of time.

Her tether was an algorithm of efficiency.

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She was never there--always 20 steps, one bike ride, three and a half hours of note-taking ahead:

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Straight lines are always more efficient when walking.

Three minutes: forty-eight seconds if you cut through that park.

Backtracking is unacceptable.

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Why take five minutes, when

you can do it in three?

Then two? Then

one?

-

***

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"Did you know that reducing the volume of a container increases its internal pressure?" she said.

One day, her container cracked.

Balloon popped.

Pressure dissipated.

-

The container's internalities were no longer internal.

They were neither internal nor external.

They... were not.

She--was not.

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***

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She was the air, not the balloon, I later discovered.