Disclaimer: Not mine never will be yada yada...
He stood in the concrete playground with his excited classmates, none of their enthusiasm sinking into him. It was the last day of school before Summer and in his fist he clasped the brown string attached to a dark blue balloon. It was the colour of Summer midnight sky. It was filled with helium and bobbed above his head in the gentle may wind. Wrapped round the string at the base of the balloon was a small white rectangular tag. On it, in printed black letters, were his name and the address of his school.
He stood alone in a crowd of chattering ten year olds. Their talk ceased as their teacher stood before them and raised her hands. The children around him were tense with anticipation as she raised a silver whistle to her lips. The air around him was palpable. He let out a sigh that went unheard as the shrill sound of the whistle pierced the air. A cheer erupted from his classmates as they let go of their strings and a wave of multicoloured balloons rose jubilant into the sky. He cast a glance up at his own balloon, still chained to the ground by his own scepticism. He knew he wouldn't see it again. Wouldn't gaze upon the matt blue rounded surface. On the off-chance that it would be found and sent back to the school he knew he wouldn't be there to welcome it home. Summer holidays lasted a long time and he didn't doubt that, come September, he'd be standing at the door of another unfamiliar school in clothes that didn't smell like him and holding the hand of another "mother" who felt obligated to at least pretend to love her latest charge.
With a sigh much older than his years, he wished a silent goodbye to his midnight blue balloon and let it go. It struggled behind the rainbow of its friends, it's colour out of place in a brilliant blue sky. He should never have got so attached to it, Michael thought to himself as he watched it rise further and further until the sun stung his eyes and he had to look away.