Boris is a very lazy little monster. He’s never cared much for sports or exercise. So he was very upset to learn one summer that his parents had decided to move to the city, into a 9th story apartment in a building with no elevator. Boris would take his time walking up that long flight of stairs. Everyday he’d walk home from school and begin his climb. By
the 3rd floor he’d have to stop for a drink of water. By the 5th floor it was time for a snack break. And by the time Boris had reached the 7th floor, he would stop and take a very long nap. It took Boris so long to climb the stairs, that he would often miss dinner. Finally his mother, fed up with eating dinner near midnight, came up with a solution. And so Boris came to have his bright red balloon. The balloon wasn’t merely to amuse him, but rather to carry him up, up, up, all the way to the 9th floor.