Honorable Mention 2026 Gooseberry Pie Writing Competition
by Vallie Lynn Watson
The hot air balloon crashed to the ground so slowly that we really couldn’t call it a crash, though we surely did call it a crash to every face that turned our way when we stormed the dive, the next town over. We hollered for help, hollered for a phone, hollered for food, hollered for beer, hollered and hollered until the faces disappeared, and then we were back out on the mean streets. We sighed, hitched up our indigo velvets, then hoofed the highway until your ankle soft-turned in a dune. I lay down next to you with the idea of rest, but sudden waves of saline rain dashed our limbs, so instead, we discussed shelter. Lightning bounced about, and we didn’t know if the scatter of tall palms in the distance was better than just staying in place, so we buried ourselves under the thicks of our velvets, chatted about the weather, then formally introduced ourselves. Once we’d gotten to know each other, we peaked out from under the velvets, and saw our hot air balloon drifting above, safe and alone in the sunny sky.
Vallie Lynn Watson is the author of A River So Long; her work appears in journals like Moon City Review, Midway, and Bending Genres. Watson teaches in McNeese State University’s MFA program, and edits the magazine Boudin.
Photo by Nicky Osipova on Unsplash
