The GHOST and Charlie Dusenberry

PG. 24 TGACD R. ZEIS

CHAPTER SIX: LOFTY GOAL

“Up, up and away!”

Jaycee Phipps could hardly wait to yell those words when he once again challenged gravity and soared freely into the heavens above.

Phipps, the owner of Grande Forkes’ hobby shop called “Time for Adventure” had finally ended a great frustration. As a boy, Phipps dreamed of being an astronaut blasting his way into the cosmos. His hopes for that profession died with the poor grades he received in math and science classes. Astronauts didn’t make C’s in physics either.

Grades pretty much-killed thoughts of being a fighter pilot too.

Jaycee, however, would not give up his dreams easily. He wanted to fly. Getting a pilot’s license was not the answer either. It cost too much and was very time-consuming. He even thought about piloting a glider, but cost again shot that idea down.

Jaycee was not ready to give up. He was just stumped.

Then something happened to give hope to the forty-year-old. Six months ago an article in the local paper caught Jaycee’s attention. The headline read, “HOT AIR BALLOONS TO RACE OVER LAKE TEXOMA.” Below the headline, the story explained that between fifty and seventy-five balloonists would lift off from the small regional airport near Huntington and ride the prevailing winds across the lake into Oklahoma. The writer promised a spectacular sight as the different colored balloons floated across the sky. As part of the festivities, the balloonists would take part in a balloon glow. The night before the race the tethered balloons would “glow” as their pilots would light the interiors of the balloons with their gas-powered flames. The different colored and shaped balloons would stay on the ground but would put on a light show.

That was it! The answer to Jaycee’s dream of flying was right there in the newspaper. He’d become a hot air balloonist.

Since the article appeared in the paper Jaycee started a search for someone who could guide him to fulfilling his version of his dream. A few weeks ago Jaycee was able to locate a balloonist who lived near Huntington named Bill Kirk. After getting to know each other Kirk started to teach Jaycee the ups and downs of ballooning.

Things were looking up for Jaycee Phipps!