Balloons to the Rescue

by Bruce Grimes

An Air Force plane was on its way to Omaha. It was carrying Army food – MREs, meals ready to eat – for people stuck in a blizzard there. The plane flew into Offutt Air Force Base near the city after the blizzard had ended. It was impossible for any other vehicles to travel into the city to bring food for the people stuck there. Not even snowmobiles!

The plane landed on ice. It had skis for landing gear because it was an Air Force plane that had been used at the North Pole before its mission to Omaha.

The Army distributed the meals to people’s houses by using air balloons. After all, Offutt Air Force Base was first used to fly military balloons during World War I in 1918.

The people were standing in snowbanks to catch the balloons with MREs. They were so happy and relieved to have something to eat after 25 days of blizzard. They had survived by eating frozen food they had stored away in their basements. The power was out, so they had to start a fire to cook it.

Of course, MREs come with their own heater to warm them up. But the chemical heaters need water to work, and the people didn’t have any water because everything was frozen in the blizzard. They shouted, “Oh no! Help! Our water is frozen! What can we do now?”

They used their walkie talkies to call for help. The Army came and brought them some heaters that use wood instead of water. They started the heaters up in the snowbanks. The heaters got so hot the snow melted. The people cried, “Oh no, we’ve got water now!” The sidewalks and streets started to flood.

Then they realized that they could drive their cars now. They jumped in their cars and drove to Walmart, where they were given free food – chicken and steak kabobs, and cupcakes.

The people of Omaha invited the Army guys who rescued them to celebrate with a big feast. They deep-fried a turkey and smoked a roast on the wood-burning heaters.
About 30 people came to the feast. The blizzard was over, and the sun was shining. People were happy because the blizzard had passed, but also sad because now their basements were flooded.

They were tired of all this trouble. The people wanted to go someplace where it never snowed, and the sun shines every day. They decided to go to Africa together.

They wanted to fly there in the Air Force plane. So they took the skis off the plane and replaced them with large wheels just right for landing in the jungle.
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When they arrived, they threw a “Welcome to Africa” party. They drank champagne and ate s’mores cooked on a wood fire – just like the fire from the heaters back home on the snowbanks.