Written: Friday. September 20, 2019.
After Dismissal, Toby, Tom and Drew went to the abandoned lot where Tom encountered the strange metal ball. It was still bright out, but a hint of dusk was showing in the sky. Tom pointed towards a tree.
“So you see,” Tom began, “this is where I was when it came here.” He moved towards the spot he was pointing at, opened his bag, and took the metal ball out. “It happened the day of the meteor shower.”
Toby and Drew looked at each other. That was just last Friday. No wonder Tom hadn’t spoken to the two of them the past weekend.
“I saw it, and was like, ‘yoh, that’s cool’. But then it started heading towards my direction. Which seemed totally weird. I didn’t know meteors could change their movement like that. And then I realized, ‘oh shit! It’s heading towards me!’ — then I started to run here. But it didn’t really matter, because it kept following me for some reason. For a second, I sure as hell thought that I was gone for. But then,” Tom raised the metal ball to a specific spot in the air. Conveniently positioned in the middle of where the three boys were standing on. “as I opened my eyes, I just saw this glowing ball floating 3 feet off the ground. It stopped glowing and floating when I tried to touch it.”
“Now here we are.” said Drew.
“Yep.” said Tom, lowering the metal ball.
“And you have no idea where it came from?” asked Toby. “Or what it does? Why it’s here? And why it chose you?”
“What do you mean ‘it chose me’?” Tom asked Toby, his faced starting to look annoyed. “Man, didn’t you hear what I just said. ‘I ran away from it’! It didn’t choose anybody. I haven’t even been able to figure out what it does or why it even came to our goddamn planet!”
“Then why didn’t you tell us about it a few days ago?” Toby said in a loud pitch. “You could’ve at least told us early on that this thing was with you for 3 days now!”
“Guys,” Drew tried to say.
“Oh yeah?” Tom had replied to Toby in a louder pitch. Moving towards him. “And what would that do?”
“What do you mean ‘What would that do?’” Toby and Tom were starting to go red.
Drew moved closer to the two of them. He was about to say something, then Tom raised his hand towards him, keeping his eyes locked on Toby. His voice returning to a modular volume.
“I meant, what do you think would happen if I had told any of the two of you, over the phone, that I have a metal ball that came from outer space, and have kept if for myself, instead of running to the authorities, so that they could deal with it, instead of us three idiots, who seem to know shit about what the hell this thing even is?”
Upon listening to what Tom was saying, Toby started to look down, but his face remained red, seeming to tame whatever it was inside him.
“Do you know what would happen if I had done that, huh, Toby?” Tom was trying to catch Toby’s gaze. “They would probably go over where I had made the call, which would probably be here, in our stupid city, in this stupid town, in my stupid house, near our stupid school. And they would quarantine the shit out of this place.”
“and confiscate the metal ball.” Drew said. Tom nodded. Toby looked at Drew when he had spoken. For a moment he forgot Drew was even there.
Toby took a deep breath. The red in his face subsiding, “Yeah, whatever.” He took a water bottle out of his bag, and took a seat on an odd shaped stone nearby. Toby started to drink his water.
Tom set down the metal ball in front of him, and looked towards the sky. The group was silent for a while. It started getting dark out.
“I don’t know what it does,” Tom said, breaking the silence. “going back to your question, Toby. I’ve been messing around with the thing. It doesn’t really have an on switch, let alone a button I could press. I tried rolling it around like a bowling ball one time. Nothing. It’s just a dumb old metal ball.”
“From outer space.” Toby replied.
“yeah.”
“And there are others out there.” Drew suddenly said. Both Toby and Tom looked at their friend. “It was a meteor shower that happened last Friday, remember? So that means, there were more. There are more out there. Metal balls like this one.”
“So what?” Tom asked. “The others might just also be metal balls that don’t do anything.”
“yeah, but what if it wasn’t?” Drew said.
Toby looked up at Drew, “‘What if they’re connected?’ is what you’re trying to say?”
“It’s possible.” Tom replied to both of them. “But it doesn’t make any sense.”
“Nothing makes any sense out of all of this.” Toby rose from where he was sitting. “But this is the only thing that does. If this is one of many metal balls that came to Earth, then collecting all of it might do…something! I don’t know. Maybe that’s why it hasn’t been able to do anything yet. Because it needs to be reconnected to its other pieces.”
“Like a puzzle.” Drew said.
“Yeah,” Toby replied.
Tom continued the train of thought. “And when all the pieces of the puzzle fit together,”
“It shows the full picture!” All of them said in unison.
Toby, Tom and Drew looked at the metal ball, its crease-less texture reflecting the concrete floor. All three of the boys gazed at it, deep in thought. It seemed they were all thinking of the same thing.
Where are we gonna start?
After Dismissal, Toby, Tom and Drew went to the abandoned lot where Tom encountered the strange metal ball. It was still bright out, but a hint of dusk was showing in the sky. Tom pointed towards a tree.
“So you see,” Tom began, “this is where I was when it came here.” He moved towards the spot he was pointing at, opened his bag, and took the metal ball out. “It happened the day of the meteor shower.”
Toby and Drew looked at each other. That was just last Friday. No wonder Tom hadn’t spoken to the two of them the past weekend.
“I saw it, and was like, ‘yoh, that’s cool’. But then it started heading towards my direction. Which seemed totally weird. I didn’t know meteors could change their movement like that. And then I realized, ‘oh shit! It’s heading towards me!’ — then I started to run here. But it didn’t really matter, because it kept following me for some reason. For a second, I sure as hell thought that I was gone for. But then,” Tom raised the metal ball to a specific spot in the air. Conveniently positioned in the middle of where the three boys were standing on. “as I opened my eyes, I just saw this glowing ball floating 3 feet off the ground. It stopped glowing and floating when I tried to touch it.”
“Now here we are.” said Drew.
“Yep.” said Tom, lowering the metal ball.
“And you have no idea where it came from?” asked Toby. “Or what it does? Why it’s here? And why it chose you?”
“What do you mean ‘it chose me’?” Tom asked Toby, his faced starting to look annoyed. “Man, didn’t you hear what I just said. ‘I ran away from it’! It didn’t choose anybody. I haven’t even been able to figure out what it does or why it even came to our goddamn planet!”
“Then why didn’t you tell us about it a few days ago?” Toby said in a loud pitch. “You could’ve at least told us early on that this thing was with you for 3 days now!”
“Guys,” Drew tried to say.
“Oh yeah?” Tom had replied to Toby in a louder pitch. Moving towards him. “And what would that do?”
“What do you mean ‘What would that do?’” Toby and Tom were starting to go red.
Drew moved closer to the two of them. He was about to say something, then Tom raised his hand towards him, keeping his eyes locked on Toby. His voice returning to a modular volume.
“I meant, what do you think would happen if I had told any of the two of you, over the phone, that I have a metal ball that came from outer space, and have kept if for myself, instead of running to the authorities, so that they could deal with it, instead of us three idiots, who seem to know shit about what the hell this thing even is?”
Upon listening to what Tom was saying, Toby started to look down, but his face remained red, seeming to tame whatever it was inside him.
“Do you know what would happen if I had done that, huh, Toby?” Tom was trying to catch Toby’s gaze. “They would probably go over where I had made the call, which would probably be here, in our stupid city, in this stupid town, in my stupid house, near our stupid school. And they would quarantine the shit out of this place.”
“and confiscate the metal ball.” Drew said. Tom nodded. Toby looked at Drew when he had spoken. For a moment he forgot Drew was even there.
Toby took a deep breath. The red in his face subsiding, “Yeah, whatever.” He took a water bottle out of his bag, and took a seat on an odd shaped stone nearby. Toby started to drink his water.
Tom set down the metal ball in front of him, and looked towards the sky. The group was silent for a while. It started getting dark out.
“I don’t know what it does,” Tom said, breaking the silence. “going back to your question, Toby. I’ve been messing around with the thing. It doesn’t really have an on switch, let alone a button I could press. I tried rolling it around like a bowling ball one time. Nothing. It’s just a dumb old metal ball.”
“From outer space.” Toby replied.
“yeah.”
“And there are others out there.” Drew suddenly said. Both Toby and Tom looked at their friend. “It was a meteor shower that happened last Friday, remember? So that means, there were more. There are more out there. Metal balls like this one.”
“So what?” Tom asked. “The others might just also be metal balls that don’t do anything.”
“yeah, but what if it wasn’t?” Drew said.
Toby looked up at Drew, “‘What if they’re connected?’ is what you’re trying to say?”
“It’s possible.” Tom replied to both of them. “But it doesn’t make any sense.”
“Nothing makes any sense out of all of this.” Toby rose from where he was sitting. “But this is the only thing that does. If this is one of many metal balls that came to Earth, then collecting all of it might do…something! I don’t know. Maybe that’s why it hasn’t been able to do anything yet. Because it needs to be reconnected to its other pieces.”
“Like a puzzle.” Drew said.
“Yeah,” Toby replied.
Tom continued the train of thought. “And when all the pieces of the puzzle fit together,”
“It shows the full picture!” All of them said in unison.
Toby, Tom and Drew looked at the metal ball, its crease-less texture reflecting the concrete floor. All three of the boys gazed at it, deep in thought. It seemed they were all thinking of the same thing.
Where are we gonna start?
End of Chapter.
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