“After all, Mr. Sneelock is one of my friends. He might even help out doing small odds and ends. Doing little odd jobs, he could be of some aid... such as selling balloons and the pink lemonade. I think five hundred gallons will be about right. And THEN, I’ll be ready for Opening Night!”
“When George’s Grandmamma was told
That George had been as good as Gold,
She Promised in the Afternoon
To buy him an Immense BALLOON,
And so she; but when it came,
It got into the candle flame,
And being of a dangerous sort
Exploded with a loud report!”
By the end of this moving story, he has gotten rid of everything; he’s torn up the bus pass from the station where they met, blown the unused condoms into balloons and set them adrift from his balcony, and dropped the pot of lemon balm tea she gave him from the balcony, too.
“When Ramona left the shoe store with her beautiful red boots, girls’ boots, in a box, which she carried herself, she was so filled with joy she set her balloon free just to watch it sail over the parking lot and up, up into the sky until it was a tiny red dot against the gray clouds.”