The GHOST and Charlie Dusenberry

PG. 48 TGACD R. ZEIS

“This is Heaven!”

Jaycee Phipps shouted it one more time with gusto. “This is Heaven!”

Jaycee knew he would love this. He watched as the ground retreated from him as the balloon rose steadily into the air.

“Hang on, Jaycee!” ordered the balloon’s pilot, Bill Kirk. The massive red, white and blue-striped balloon sped even higher as Bill sent more hot air into the cavity of the balloon by igniting the gas-powered flame above their heads. The blasting flame was very loud. Dropping away from them was the landing strip at the regional airport.

“I hope you’re not scared of the height, Jaycee.”

“Nope! This is a dream come true,” exclaimed Jaycee. He moved from side to side in the gondola peering over the side.

“We’re about 350 feet high and that’s where we’ll stay for this short trip,” said Bill. There was very little wind at the moment and the balloon was moving slowly south away from Lake Texoma.

Jaycee looked at the spectacular view of the lake and Oklahoma on the far side of it. Turning to the other side of the gondola he peered down as the balloon glided over cars traveling to and fro on the roads hundreds of feet below.

“What do you think, Jaycee? Is this something you want to learn about?”

“Bill, you will never know what this means to me,” Jaycee said. Tears came to his eyes as he watched the small town of Grande Forke come into view. “You let me know how much you want to charge me for the lessons…and I’ll pay it!”

Bill smiled at his prospective student. “This won’t be cheap, Jaycee. And you have to invest some time too. After I teach you how to fly this thing you’ll have to test to get your pilot’s license. This won’t be a quick turnaround thing.”

Jaycee’s response was fast. “I don’t care about all that. When we land I want to get the paperwork started.” Jaycee again leaned over the side of the gondola. “How much longer will we stay up, Bill?”

PG. 49 TGACD R. ZEIS

The pilot fired up the flame for two or three seconds lifting the balloon a few feet. “Not much longer. We’ll set her down on a field near some baseball diamonds. My wife is driving the chase car and will meet us there.”

“Great!” answered Jaycee as he tried to gauge the distance to the baseball fields that were just coming into view. He was exhilarated about what was to come. Paying Bill to learn how to fly would not be something to worry about. He’d find the money. What he did have to worry about was possibly having to hide what he was doing from his wife. She was such a penny-pincher!

The balloon leveled off and the pilot pointed out landmarks to Jaycee who continued to smile. “There’s the Red River off to the east. And that’s the hydro-electric dam that regulates the level of the lake.” Jaycee had lived here his whole life, but seeing these places from the air put everything in a different perspective. It was beautiful.

“OK, Jaycee. We’re going to start bringing her down to earth,” stated Bill a few minutes later.

The balloon started its descent as it passed over the baseball diamonds. Jaycee felt a little sad his first trip was almost over. However, he knew this was just the start of something special.

An adventure was about to begin!