Mabalo's Balloon

By Ken Albertsen

Mabalo 's Balloon is an adventure book is aimed primarily at teen readers, but can be enjoyed by any age. Ken has over a dozen books published worldwide, but this is his first book directed at young readers. It follows the adventures of Mabalo, a young Mayan fellow in pre-Columbian Guatemala. Together with his father, they build a prototype hot air balloon. Later they have a larger version which can carry two passengers plus provisions. Mabalo picks his best friend to accompany him. They travel to an Aztec region and later to a desert where they meet a Hopi young man. The adventures continue, over the Rocky Mountains and down into what's now the SE USA where they interact with Choctaw Indians. Their travels continue to a Caribbean island, the Amazon jungle and beyond - with harrowing adventures sprinkled throughout. The story is loosely historically based, where it describes aspects of the various tribes Mabalo and his fellow explorers encounter. This book would also be excellent as a guide for teaching students who are studying English as a second language. It contains many advanced English words which won't be found in children's (or most other) books. Plus, besides being history-based, it's a fun story. So what better way to advance the English language than having students enjoy an adventure-packed and fast-paced story book?!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ken Albertsen
• Release date: Jun 30, 2020
• ISBN: 9781879338197

Ken Albertsen

Ken is a .westward-moving guy. Started out in Denmark in 1952, then westward to Washington DC three years later. At age 22, Ken moved westward to northern California where he farmsteaded for 25 years. Then westward again at age age 47 to farmstead in northern Thailand. 20 years hence, and Ken is like whirled peas (world peace) leaving Thailand and landing on his feet, but where? Ken has over a dozen books showcased online - on as many topics, ranging from Tibetan Buddhism (Life Story of Milarepa) to diet (Fasting for Health and Highness), to history (Hong Kong, What if ....?) with a couple of sci-fi stories thrown in for good measure (Robon Take-Over and Mastodons on Mars). Additionally, Ken has written a novel (Lali's Passage), a humorous book (Buddha, Jesus and the Hippie), plus two memoirs. One is his auto-bio from age zero to 22 (C.I.A. Brat) and the most recent was written after serving time in a Thai prison on false charges (1 Pill = 28 Years). Ken will next release his first children's book titled: "Mabalo's Balloon." plus a crossword puzzle book and a dictionary of idioms. Ken has narrated two audio books, the latest: Himalayan Adventures features readings from the diaries of seven great explorers of the Himalayan region, five of whom did their explorations during the 19th century. Adventure1.com.

Book preview

Mabalo's Balloon

Adventure Story from Pre-Columbian Latin America

.....aimed at teen readers, but any age may enjoy reading it.

Copyright 2020 by Ken Albertsen

Adventure1 Publications

ISBN 9781879338197

All illustrations by author

All rights reserved under international and Pan-American Copyright conventions. This e-book is available for the person who purchased it. This e-book should not be copied or re-sold or given away to others. Exception: small portions of this book may be quoted in other venues, if it's in regard to reviews or within a teaching context. Note If you would like to share this book with others, please arrange for the purchase of additional copies, accordingly. Thank you for respecting the work of this author. Carpenters, lawyers, accountants and chefs get paid for the hours they devote to their professions, ....so too should authors. It is hoped you enjoy this book. Reviews are appreciated.

Chapters

1. Maya

2. Aztec

3. Hopi

4. Rockies

5. Choktaw

6. Island

7. Amazon

8. Harem

9. Inca

10. Garifuna

About author

Other books from Adventure1

ONE

Maya

It was during the big fire by the white pyramid. He saw leaves floating fast - up into the air. Were the leaves being pushed or being pulled? Mabalo had, two moons earlier, successfully gone through his ascension to manhood. He had endured the long fast, had hiked alone for a half moon to get visions, had endured gloves of fire ants put onto his hands by elder brothers. They were grinning, Mabalo was not. Scars from tattoos had healed over into handsome streaks of brown on his chest and shoulders. He was proud of the design inscribed by the village dream weaver. Now that he was officially a young man, Mabalo's parents expected him to become either a priest or a warrior. They did not want him to be a farmer, even though that was what he was drawn to - as evidenced by his habit of always planting seeds and burying ends of branches in loose soil, to see whether new shoots would sprout.

While watching large leaves dance above the smokey fire, he noticed the fire creeping toward a blanket which was loosely laying on a layer of dry branches. Mabalo thought to run over to save the blanket from burning, but he figured, at fifty paces, he was too far away to save it. The he saw it lift, as if by a divine wind. The blanket floated up high and wound up draped on the second tier of the nearby pyramid.

The old women who had earlier been using the blanket, must have given up on it - as too charred to salvage. So the next morning, Mabalo and a friend climbed up the side of the pyramid to retrieve it. They had to clandestinely climb up the rear of the structure, because it was forbidden for anyone to climb the wide & steep steps up the front - unless, of course, you were a priest. Anyway, it was fun climbing up the steep back side, as parts of its blocks stuck out at joints, just enough to get a little bit of a finger-hold.

Mabalo was the better climber, but not he eldest. Xunic was two years older and didn't, at first believe what he had just heard: that a blanket had magically lifted up and flown like a floppy butterfly.

It did, said Mabalo, I saw it. The heat and smoke from the fire blew it up high.

Uh huh, said Xunic, if that's so, let's go get the blanket and see if we can make it fly again.

The boys brought the blanket down. It was a bit charred, but still intact. They laid it on a bed of dry leaves and dry sticks - and then lit the tinder.

Some curious on-lookers gathered to watch as smoke emanated from the edges. Then small flames were seen in its middle. An elder woman came running and yelled at the boys, why are you ruining that blanket?! My mother and I spent days weaving it. Why?!

By this time, the burned hole in its middle was big enough for a jaguar to jump through, and the blanket had not risen one thumb width - though its edges flopped around, releasing smoke. . The boys then threw sand on it, but the cloth was now not even useful as pillow filler. The boys were chased away by broom wielding women. Mabalo tried to tell them that the blanket was already ruined - even before they set in on fire, but the women were too busy chastising, to listen.

Mabalo's father was a tinkerer and inventor. He had perfected a mechanical system of transferring water from a low reservoir to a group of huts situated on a higher hill. Until the system was installed, the villagers on the hill had to walk many man-lengths to get water for their daily needs. Mabalo asked his father how a blanket could float up high in the air, when near a fire.

Together with his son, the two set about designing a contraption where heat would compel a blanket to rise - without burning the blanket. They soon found that using a lightweight blanket with a tight weave worked best. They then devised a way for the blanket to carry a small basket up in the air. The basket would be tethered to the blanket by strings which were attached to the perimeter of the blanket. Under the blanket, but above the basket would be a terracotta tray which served as a fire pan. Like everything else, it had to be as lightweight as possible. The fire pan was held in place, under the blanket, by the same cords which held the basket - which was tethered below the fire pan.

Several prototypes were built, each larger than the preceding one. Some worked passably well - whereas other prototypes did not. But from each failure, lessons were learned. So, by assessing and fiZing the drawbacks, the models improved. A few times, Mabalo was ready to give up, but he saw how his father was jazzed by the challenges involved, so his dad's enthusiasm inspired Mabalo to stay involved.

Early on, it was decided to build a large basket which would serve to hold the blanket canopy. The basket, positioned upside-down, needed only a few stout strands of palm leaf spine, spaced far apart, to do its job of holding the sewn-together blankets up in a dome shape. Luckily, Mabalo's mother and her friends were a basket makers, but she laughed when her husband mentioned the parameters.

We can't make a basket as wide as two man lengths with spaces as big as a forearm, ....how silly. Everyone knows baskets need to be tighter than that - even if you want to catch a big fish in the river. she said with a smile.

Wife, this is not like any ordinary basket. My request is for a specialty basket. Help us out.

Husband, you pick vanilla and papaya from the forest, but instead of using the trade items for your family, you are instead trading for blankets and baskets which we don't need.

Wife dear, I will pick more fruit, so we will have enough extra - to trade for food for the family, but also some extra for our project. I know it seems silly and I know the neighbors are snickering at us, but it is what I want to do.

Well, I do like that you're involved with Mabalo on the project, but I wish the boy would be perfecting his fighting skills and getting ready to be a warrior. Then, there would be one less mouth to feed, and he could bring us glory and gifts with his fighting unit, as they subdue neighboring tribes and bring home tribute.

.....or become a priest.

Yes, that would be better, but you know we are not a priest-class family - so it would be very difficult for him to get accepted by the head priest to join the pyramid group.

All villagers knew that, if a boy was not of a priest-class family, his only hope of joining the mystics was to sweep and do errands for them - for many years, before being initiated. There was a running joke in the community: when a villager was spotted sweeping in or around their house, a neighbor might cheerily say, are you training to be a priest?

Another tradition was, whenever there was a special ceremony officiated by a priest, such as a wedding or funeral, there would be food available for any guests. Along with that, the priest would be obliged to make a small fire with lovely-smelling herbs, which emitted black smoke.

Mabalo's mother said to her husband, if you keep building weird things with blankets instead of feeding the family, Mabalo and I may be forced to always watch the sky.

Why is that? asked Mabalo's father.

Because we will be so hungry, we will watch the sky for black smoke, and run to where it's coming from, knowing there will be free food there.

Bye and bye, Mabalo's mother mellowed, and did as her husband requested. She also got her blanket-making friends to fabricate lightweight, tight-weave blankets for the project.

Most of the villagers thought Mabalo's family were a bit zany for working on such a hare-brained concept - particularly when they heard the plan to possibly lift a person off the ground with it. What folly, they thought, while snickering into their hands. If people were meant to float in air, they would have wings like birds or bats or moths. Only Gods can float above ground - and if a person does it, it may be seen as a threat to the Gods and could make them angry. When Gods get angry, in the vicinity of Mabalo's Maya village, they respond with volcano eruptions, tsunamis, earthquakes floods or forest fires -