Maddy serenely surveyed the landscape beneath her as the balloon lofted to heights she had never before even imagined. This was so much more captivating than that time she climbed atop the dining room hutch. More exhilarating too.

From her altitudinous new perch, she could scope out particulars she had previously only experienced from a grounded perspective. She knew the hole in that rickety old fence led to the raspberry thicket which in turn curled around behind that rusted tool shed, but it was another matter entirely to see it presented as if she were reading a world map. A map of her world, anyway.

As the buildings grew smaller and nature’s lush greenery revealed its magnificent glory, Maddy couldn’t help but reflect upon her own perceived significance. Was she really such an infinitesimal bit player on a universal stage? A mere Lilliputian in a much grander macrocosm? It was thought provoking.

From this elevation, Maddy also ruminated on her life’s accomplishments which, with the grand scheme now exposed, seemed minimal. She never ventured far from her established territory, she never dined on anything that wasn’t scooped from a can or poured from a bag, and she never once caught that painfully elusive red dot. But the aerial meditation eased her anxiety and, upon further review, she had no regrets.

Well, she did have one.

She probably shouldn’t have pushed the human out of the basket. He was the one who knew how to land this thing.