Exercises from the Energheia Writing Course 2024

Theme: Way of clouds 

Teacher Yoanna Tyrou  (Energheia International Writing Course 2024)

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Balloons

Balloons have free will. They travel the world but are very careful not to break.

One day they visited a town that was grey, and they thought that they would look more colorful in it. So, they decided to stay. And because they did not want to be alone, they each made a friend. But adults could not see them.

So, the Balloons chose children to be their friends. Without knowing how, without knowing where they were from, the children were surprised by balloons. Only the little orphans from the orphanage watched them fly away from the dark tiny corridor. Their selfless hands reached for the miracle that happened to everyone else, but never came true for them.

The Ballons flew away. Soon the orphans found out that every other child had one. Their loss was so unbearable to them, and their envy so great that they wanted to destroy all the ballons, since they reminded them of everything they could never have. … One of them, one orphan, searched the whole town for a ballon to make friends with it. He couldn’t find one for a long time, but he never gave up.

The sparkle in his eyes didn’t burn out, despite all the teasing he faced. One morning, before the sun had risen to announce the new day, he saw a bunch of them and he ran after them to the hill, where the trees met the sky. He ran faster and faster, letting the wind help him fight the exhaustion he felt in his very core. Then, at the very edge, a smile brightened his face as he saw them hanging from an apple tree. There was enough for all the children, he thought happily, before flying into this bright day.