They thought they had concocted the perfect plan. The smaller of the two men, Dave, was a hot air balloon enthusiast and entered the Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA almost every year. His partner in crime, Bill, was just along for the ride and had helped Dave transport the stolen gold bars as far as the balloon festival.
The balloon fiesta was in the fall of the year in warm, dry New Mexico. As Dave and Bill approached the venue, the skies were blue and there was a slight breeze. Dave’s balloon was already secured there, deflated, but ready to be aired up. Dave had made plans to steal the gold bars and then transport them to his secret place in Mexico using his balloon.
Dave had stolen the gold from his supervisor’s home vault while she was on vacation. He had lucked into finding the combination for the vault by hacking her laptop.
They aired up the balloon and gradually loaded the gold bars into the wicker basket. Then, they were off. Dave thought the balloon was a bit sluggish as it tried to get off the ground, but he blamed the calm wind. The balloon gradually rose, but slowly and not to the height that Dave expected. As the wind further calmed, Dave became alarmed since the balloon started losing altitude. Dave suddenly realized the problem was the weight of the gold.
Below the balloon, they could see the Rio Grande River. The balloon was falling rapidly no matter how much hot air Dave pumped into it. It slowed and plunked down right in the middle of a shallow in the river. When Dave and Bill looked up, there was the Border Patrol on horseback on the bank, just waiting for them.
Thanks to the JSW Challenge and A Writer’s Life!
The Write Scribe 