The Bubbleretta

In early March, a trio of fifth-grade friends met on a hill in LaFlaweless to fly their kites. It was a slightly gusty day that was just perfect for soaring kites. A couple weeks earlier, Celita had suggested to her two friends that it would be a good idea to design and make their own kites rather than purchase them as they had always done. Joni and Kay were less than enthusiastic about making a kite, but they eventually agreed that it was worth a try. They met at Celita’s house several days after school to make their kites and had fun coming up with all kinds of unique designs.

“Up it goes! Rise as high as the sky!” sang Joni as she released her kite. It was decorated with a silhouette of her face. A variety of musical symbols projected from her lips. Of the three kites, Joni thought hers was the most creative of all.

On Kay’s yellow kite was a picture of her two pet parakeets perched on a long twig. Her kite was dressed up with colorful tails that were sure to dance in the wind. She yelled as she released her kite, “Fly away, fly away, but not too far!”

Celita’s kite had a red heart in the center. It was surrounded with the sun, moon, stars and baby animals. It looked as if she was introducing the animals to the days and nights of her beloved LaFlaweless kingdom.

Celita’s kite flew toward the highest level of the hill. She followed it and left her two friends on the lower level. She was enjoying watching her kite until a sharp glare of orange light penetrated her eyes and blinded her for a split second. Celita stumbled and fell flat on her face. A strong gust of wind pulled the kite’s handle from her hand.

“Oh no! Oh no!” she called out as she quickly got up and dashed toward the long string. Just as she was about to grasp it, the kite soared way above her reach. Her eyes followed the kite as it sailed way across the sky. It looked smaller and smaller the farther away it moved.

Celita’s kite floated in the direction of a dense area of tall trees. She knew that in a few minutes all of her hard work would be torn into bits and pieces once the kite came in contact with the sharp branches of the trees. Even though she was bruised from the fall and needed attention, Celita ran toward the right side of the hill to try to get a better view of her kite. Way off in the distance where there was just a tiny bit of a clearing, Celita spotted something that appeared to be a roof on top of a building. It was difficult to determine exactly what the structure was, because a thick foliage of vines and other greenery partially covered the only side of the building she could see. However, what was clearly visible to her were the very vivid, orange shingles on the roof. They were shaped like circles and sparkling like stars. Celita stared at them, because she had never seen anything like that in LaFlaweless.

When the orange shingles rotated 360 degrees and gradually turned the brightest blue she had ever seen, Celita was so mesmerized that she could hardly move. She forgot all about her kite.

She turned and ran as fast as she could down the hill where her friends were. Joni and Kay paid no attention to the look of surprise on Celita’s face. Nor did they notice the bruises on her body or the dirt on her clothes. They just saw that she was empty handed. Joni and Kay teased Celita about the loss of her handmade kite. Joni reminded Celita over and over that such a great idea had gotten the best of her, as if she didn’t already know that.

At that moment, Celita was trying to process in her mind what she had just witnessed on the top of the hill. There was no doubt that it was mysterious to her. It was also exciting. However, she decided it was certainly not the kind of thing to share with teasing friends.