Mylarmania

It started off innocently enough. I was leaving for work last Thursday morning and there they were all the way down on the other end of the hall. Waiting. Watching everything. And hovering maybe six feet off the ground. There were two mylar balloons just floating there and it wasn't clear what they were up to. One had a big, yellow, smiley face with a faux tie-dye background. There were no words. It was clearly mocking me. The other said "Welcome" and had all sorts of flowers and bugs in the background. Welcome to what? They didn't say anything as I came down the hall. They just sat there.

When I got home from work they were still there. Hovering. Watching. Saying nothing. Why hadn't someone claimed them by now? Why hadn't they moved on? Were they here to see me? And if so, why? I slept somewhat restlessly that night, but how couldn't I, I knew they were out there and I knew they had appeared with some purpose in mind. But again, what was it, and when would I learn it?

Friday morning. I left the apartment and they were outside our door. They had migrated the entire length of the floor. There was now no doubt their focus was on me, but why me, and why now? They still wouldn't say. Nor did they say anything when I arrived home Friday night, though they were still there, sitting sentry outside our door, mysterious, quiet and professional to a fault, but as disconcerting as ever.

I tried to ignore them when I went out on Saturday, though once again, their they sat, still unclaimed, unmoving, and indecipherable. When I got back home they were gone and I wondered if I had angered them in some way? Maybe I was supposed to have engaged them? They were visitors, right, had I been rude? I didn't know, but realized I missed them a little. They had so completely dominated my thoughts for days, and now what, nothing, they had left just like that. No good-bye. No message. I felt empty.

But not for long. Because there they were in my living room undulating above the couch. They seemed so restful. But why were they here? My wife explained that my son had wanted them in the house, why should they go unwanted and uncared for? Still, I wondered if this was part of their plot, working their way into our home so they could strike at the right moment after slowly gathering whatever information they had been assigned to collect on my day to day life. I also wondered if my wife was working with them? How did I know she hadn't been compromised in some way? How did I know she could be trusted? What did I really know about her? Hadn't she also just appeared in the hall one day? No, that was Goodbye Girl, but still, everything seemed different now and suspect.

It is two days later and as I write this the smiley face balloon is looking down on me. Staring right through me, and laughing at me, always laughing. Laughing about what though I do not know. Maybe you know though? Maybe you have had a similar experience? Maybe this is happening everywhere? If so, please tell me about it, and if you have something to do with this, I'm not angry, but I would like to know why, and I would like to know what your intentions are? It would mean a lot to me to know more and it would allow me to move on. Last night, I noticed an empty box at the end of the hall and this morning it was clearly working its way towards our apartment. It too is no doubt up to something, though I know not what.