The practice isn’t all that uncommon.

Dreamers have thrown messages in bottles into the sea forcenturies, hoping someone with all the answers would uncork theirstories and return the answer to the meaning of life. The U.S.government is in the seeking business, too – both Voyagerspacecraft have been hurtling through space for more than 30 yearswith golden records that detail life on earth with photographs,mathematical equations and Mozart.

Bogue Chitto’s Deacon Wallace is just an amateur compared toNASA, but he can make one claim the space agency can’t – hismessage has been answered.

The 6-year-old kindergartener recently received a letter from aman in central Arkansas, 366 miles and 14 months after sending uphis message in a birthday balloon from southern Lincoln County.

“He was excited and happy about it. He said he wanted to writethe guy back,” said 30-year-old offshore worker Justin Wallace,Deacon’s father. “He’s looking forward to it.”

Deacon let fly his balloon after his birthday on Dec. 27, 2009,and the reply arrived on Feb. 10 from T.J. Marrall, a businessmanwho in December 2010 discovered the balloon in the woods while deerhunting near his home in Searcy, Ark., about 17 miles from HotSprings.

Marrall had played the game before, too.

“When I was in kindergarten and we let our balloons go almost 26years ago,” his return letter reads. “I wondered where mine wentbut no one ever called me. I don’t know where Bogue Chitto is, butyour balloon found its way.”

Marrall closed by hoping Deacon grows up to be a “fine youngman,” advising him to “always be true to yourself and always berespectful to all.”

The idea to send up the birthday balloon was Justin’s.

“I’ve found other people’s balloons before, but I’ve never gotone back myself,” he said. “It’s just something I thought aboutdoing when we got those balloons for Deacon’s birthday, just toshow him what daddy did when I was in kindergarten.”

The father and son plan on releasing more balloons in thefuture.