But then other balloons appeared. Blimps and dirigibles too. Soon airships of all sorts dotted the skies.
Surely they’ll be banned, everyone thought. But the airships were perfectly legal, and they multiplied, and the world was transfixed.
But as all eyes turned skyward, people lost sight of their surroundings, the people and things that needed their care and attention, the earthly stuff of their everyday lives, until at last everyone lowered their gaze and once again focused on what was right in front of them, and the skies cleared.