inflation · balloon · helium · parade · festival · transformation · passive · dreamy · objectification · fantasy
The parade is minutes from starting, and the sky above the festival grounds is empty—no blimp, no spectacle, just clear blue. Mira’s panic is a live wire snapping in the air. Then she sees you, sprawled and oblivious on the grass. A wild, irreversible idea takes hold. She gathers string, a helium tank, a tube. In one fluid, desperate motion, she binds your wrists and ankles, forces the tube past your lips, and cranks the valve open. The gas rushes in, cold and expanding, and your world begins to drift.