‘Not technically open to the public or even legally witnessable, the country’s ‘Helium Depot’ has recently become something of a traveling Wayside attraction. Until now, the exact location of America’s helium stores was confidential, though it wasn’t exactly a secret people were dying to know. With the secret out, a great deal of effort is being put into reminding the public about the civic duty of looking-away-when-asked.
But it’s hard to look away.
‘The Helium Depot’ appears to be constructed of some very strong and very light metal alloy- a warehouse that was untethered to the ground by the precious gas it once stored. With helium supplies running low, ‘The Helium Depot’ has entered the demented frenzy of an old birthday balloon, choosing not to fly or fall but to hang, morose, at varying altitudes between the sky and the ground. It rides a wind current through the middle of the country, having torn loose from its foundations during a recent storm and attempts to restrain it.
‘The Helium Depot’s’ little collisions have caused a great deal of damage as it passes slowly through Nevada and petitions for compensation are met with a waggling finger. Nobody is supposed to know about ‘The Helium Depot.’ That’s the law.
Requests for clarification on the legality of publishing this entry were answered by a man with a no-nonsense attitude and an unusually high voice who could not speak to the legal status of anything he couldn’t legally know about.
-an excerpt, Autumn by the Wayside
