The Red Balloon
It was lunchtime at the local skool, and Zim was inciting some trouble in cafeteria. "Look at the Dib! He's pathetic...all alone...ha! Hey, Dib! Want to introduce to us your imaginary friend?!" Cackling at this, some of the other children turned their heads and started spreading rumors about Dib again.
"You're one to talk!" Dib retaliated. "You don't have any friends either! Where's your imaginary friend, Zim?" For some reason, this only gave the children more cause to laugh, and the insult bounced off the alien's proud exterior like water against wax paper. Turning his tray to face the wall, he began to lose himself in thoughts. True, he didn't normally like to have his back to them, but this time he didn't care. Nothing seemed to matter to him now. He wanted an escape, an escape that could take him forever from the perils of reality, but that would just be asking for insanity--real insanity.
Thinking of what it would be like to soar among the clouds and look down on those who so rightly deserved to be looked down upon, he closed his eyes and an image came to mind. It was a balloon, a red balloon.
'Why would I suddenly think of a balloon? Maybe I really am insane...' he thought, but no. There was some memory, some connection, something profound tied to that image of a seemingly ordinary red balloon. Then, it hit him. Remembering a short film shown before a movie, though he couldn't recall which one, he sighed. He'd almost forgotten.
It was about a balloon, of course, a red balloon. A child had found a balloon and kept it for the whole day through. The child loved that balloon more than ice cream on a hot day. Their fun was to be short-lived, however, when they met some older children. In spite of how much the child was attached to it, they let the balloon loose and made the child beg for it. Just a few feet out of reach, they dangled that balloon as they mocked and ridiculed the child like the world taunted Dib for his dreams.
Feeling a pain inside him, he thought about the countless times his hopes had been crushed by an uncaring force, be it Zim, his peers, adults, his own father and sister...it mounted to an unbearable level, and yet it never seemed to get through to anyone the immense effect it had on him. Everything culminated to an answer, some kind of awareness, but he couldn't find the key. If only he could find that key and unlock that door...
It didn't matter. He knew it would never matter.
The children in the cafeteria grew restless once more, and a random idiot heaved a spoonful of coleslaw into Dib's face. Soon a food fight ensued against him, sealing Dib's fate for detention, as he would naturally be to blame. Reminded of the film once more, he emptied his tray and used it as a shield from the various globs of cafeteria slop to return to his memory in peace. No. That wasn't it. It couldn't be. Never in peace.
At this time, he could easily relate to that balloon. No one understood the symbolism of a friend the balloon represented, just as no one understood the pain he endured and the dreams and desires he clung to as if for life. It may well have been for just that purpose. The children...both in the film and in reality they were ignorant and only destroyed without creating. Sure, people may build buildings and have children, but the human race is, by nature, a consumer of all resources, and rarely makes an effort to replace what it takes. By definition, humanity is a parasite. Thinking of how the children relentlessly threw sticks at that balloon and eventually popped it, ignoring the damage done, he wondered what would happen to humanity even if he did stop Zim. They'd probably be gone within a year or two anyway.
These were depressing thoughts, and it saddened him that not only his efforts, but also the efforts of others throughout history, would be lost to this ignorance...this disease. But still...he knew that he had to persist, no matter what, like that kid and that balloon. Somehow...somehow, he would make it. Somehow, he would defy the odds and accomplish his heart's desire.
Author's Note: I know it's short, but...well, tell me what you think of it. I wrote this just now; it took me about ten minutes, so it's probably not my best.