Zackrat Winds His Way Home

    "In thanks for escorting my daughter, Princess Merimalt, home to me," said the Emperor of Upper Dismalia, "I present you with this black fire opal, found only in our own mines."

    Special Officer Zackrat bowed to the emperor.  "Thank you very much.  I was very happy to escort the lovely princess."

    Thus dismissed Zacky and the other two special officers walked out of the palace only to find themselves in the middle of a revolutionary mob storming the palace.  Losing sight of his companions, Zacky was swept away in the melee and soon found himself bereft of briefcase, money and plane ticket home.  "Lucky for me I put the opal in my secret pocket," he murmured.  "Now to get out of here."

    A ragged convoy of jeeps wound through the streets of the city.  Zacky flagged down the last one in the line.  "Hey, fella, can I make a trade with you?" he addressed the driver.

    "Got any thing worthwhile?" the suspicious driver asked.

    "Only this," said Zacky as he pulled out the opal and let it flash and flame in the palm of his hand.

    "What do you want for it?" asked the driver, goggling at the gem.

    "Your jeep," said Zacky, trying not to let his voice quaver in hope.

    "Deal," said the driver as he jumped out and grabbed the opal.

    Zacky climbed into the driver's seat, make a 180 degree turn and drove away as fast as he could.  After a day and a night's hard drive, he came to the coast.

    "Well, I can't drive on water," he mused to himself, wondering what to do next.  Suddenly, in the sky he saw a cluster of hot air balloons.  "Of course, I'll try to get one of those."  He drove around until he found the field where the balloons were taking off and landing.  He ran over to a balloon that was just getting ready to rise.  "Hey, can I make a trade?"

    "What've you got that I might want?" asked the pilot of the balloon.

    "A jeep.  In great shape.  Right over there."  He pointed to the vehicle parked some fifty feet away.

    "All mine?" asked the pilot.  "And for what?"

    "A ride home," said Zacky.  "Across the ocean."

    "For a jeep, you want a ride across the ocean."  The pilot said nothing for a full minute.  Zacky grew downcast.  He would miss his birthday party that his mum was planning for him.  Maybe he would never get home.  Special Officer Zackrat, afraid he might panic, took a deep breath and squinched his eyes shut.

    As though in a dream he heard the words, "Okay, it's a deal."

    Zacky opened his eyes and breathed out.

    He hopped into the gondola, slipped into a parachute and happily let the balloon carry him up into the sky away from Upper Dismalia.  Thank heavens.

    The winds and the gondola fan carried them over the frothing sea.  Sun and moon came and went several times before pilot and passenger sighted land, green and lush.  Zacky could scarcely wait.

    "You needn't land unless you want to," he said to the Dismalian pilot.  "In any case I'm getting off now."  He tightened the parachute straps, balanced briefly on the edge of the gondola and jumped.  The red and white 'chute billowed out and he floated to the ground, delighted that he had made it home just a day before his birthday.  Mum would be waiting.