Davina Dupree's Bizarre Birthday Balloon Ride Read Free

view, Diary!
    Wowzers.com , that’s all I can say. I’m looking down over the side of the balcony and the world below me looks like a patchwork blanket of green fields, roads, groups of houses and the occasional blue lake and river. SO pretty.com . I
do
feel a bit dizzy if I stare downwards for too long, so I keep having to sit back up and stare and my feet for a bit, but Arabella’s fearless, she’s been hanging over the balcony since we started rising up.
    Basically, when Giles had finished all the preparations, he asked us all to take a seat.
    â€˜Now it’s time to relax, look out and enjoy,’ he grinned as he twisted the clasps at the end of the burners.
    They BURST into life, which totally made me jump.com . Arabella and I grabbed each other as the balloon powered up, lifting our cabin off the grass until we were swinging in mid-air.
    Hugo and Hattie screamed REALLY loudly until Amy, who’d actually stopped texting for long enough to watch us take off, yelled,
    â€˜BE QUIET WILL YOU?’ at them.
    â€˜Their parents never tell them off or pay any attention to them,’ she sighed in my direction. ‘That’s why they act like spoiled brats the whole time, because to them any attention is good attention. Quite sad really, they’re good kids underneath it all.’ Then she grinned because we were going higher and higher, rising away from all the other balloons which were still on the ground, over the trees and up and up until the balloons left in the field looked like colourful far off balls.
    I’m going to go now, Diary, because I want to take in every last little detail of our view!
Late at night, In Bed, Thursday, 18 th March
    Yawn, Diary!
    What a totally AMAZING.COM day!
    Arabella and I stayed peering over the balcony as the balloon rose upwards, watching the world below disappearing until we wafted through a misty white cloud and burst through to the sunrays above it. Up there, the world below looked like a very far away map, and we could only tell what larger things like lakes and big fields were, everything else looked like multi-coloured dots.
    At about six o’clock, when we’d all put our thickest coats on and were rubbing our hands together to keep warm, Giles suggested we retire to our rooms to get ready for dinner. The good thing about being in the cabin of a luxury balloon is that there’s central heating, so although the air outside is absolutely freezing.com , it’s actually rather cosy inside.
    Dinner was really fun. At seven o’clock, Giles sounded a gong and we all traipsed down the small spiral staircase to the kitchen diner. Hugo and Hattie pushed us aside and raced down first, but I tried not to mind too much as I know how exciting it is here and they are the youngest on board. Arabella was annoyed though, and stuck her leg - out trying to trip Hugo up as he whooshed past, but he was too quick for her.
    Giles made the most DELISH.COM lasagne, one of my all-time favourite meals, and the side dish already laid out on the table was a giant salad platter in the shape of a hot air balloon. Green lettuce leaves made the upside down egg shape of the balloon, with slices of red tomato, black olives and small sprigs of spring onion scattered all over them, making rows of yummy decoration. Cucumber sticks stuck downwards beneath the lettuce leaves formed the ropes attaching the balloon to the cabin, which was made from sticks of red, green and yellow peppers, with square pieces of celery forming tiny windows. It looked too beautiful to eat, a true work of art, but we were all so hungry that both the lasagne and balloon shaped salad were demolished in minutes.
    Mr Duffy smacked his lips together loudly when he’d finished, raised his glass of fizzy grape juice and said,
    â€˜I’m sure you’ll agree that was a triumph of a meal, everybody. Let’s toast the chef!’
    We all nodded and agreed and toasted Giles with our tall,