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to him in a reassuring voice; "everything is going to be okay Billy, remember?" "Yes, I remember," he answered his balloon, remembering that that was what he had promised his balloon.

Once they were through security, they went on to find their gate; gate 53. As they arrived at their gate, they saw that passengers were already boarding, so Billy, his balloon, and his mother got in line and slowly moved along with the crowd with which they would fly to Billings, Montana. The flight attendant who took their tickets was impressed by Billy's balloon. "My father gave it to me." Billy told her. "My father's breath is inside." "Oh really," she said. Billy felt that she didn't fully understand the importance of having his father's breath.

Billy, with his balloon, and his mother walked down the connector, and then onto the airplane. There, at the door, they met another flight attendant. She told them that they were the last to board, so they would be given special seats. In fact, they were given the seats that the flight attendants usually used. The seats pulled down from the wall of the plane and faced sideways. They had seatbelts that crossed over one shoulder instead of their waists. And they were right next to the door to the plane.

Billy and his mother sat side-by-side. It seemed to Billy that right after they sat down, the plane took off. This was the first time Billy had ever flown in a plane; he would have been excited under different circumstances, but now he just held onto his balloon, and felt his breaking heart.
After a while, a flight attendant came over to Billy carrying another balloon! It was black, and it rose in the air by itself.

"Would you like this balloon too?" He asked.

Billy was surprised. How could a balloon stay up by itself?
"How does it stay up by itself?" Billy asked the flight attendant.

"Oh. It's because it's filled with a gas called helium, and helium is lighter than air, so the helium makes the balloon rise."

"I never heard of helium before." Billy said, feeling a bit suspicious about this new information. How could there be something that existed that Billy didn't already know about?

"Would you like the balloon?" The flight attendant asked again.

"I have to ask my balloon first." Billy answered. Billy asked his balloon what he thought
about having this new black balloon join them. His balloon answered that he and the new black balloon had already been talking, and that they would both be happy to be together.
"My balloon says it's okay mister.

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