Wednesday, October 31st, 2018
Sometime last month I was cleaning off my nightstand and found a bouncyball. It was maybe an inch and a half in diameter, and it seemed to be in a sad state of non-bounce, probably due to the fact that it hadn't been bounced in a while. So I went out to my patio to try it out and was not at all disappointed at its bounciness. I threw it to the concrete, it bounced up and then off the side of the apartment and then back to my hands. It was a rather ethereal experience. But then, disaster. I put a little too much force on it, and the ball bounced up and onto the roof and didn't come back down! Sadness. So I climbed up and retrieved it, making a mental note not to bounce it that hard, since I didn't care to go through all the trouble of recovering it again. But then again.... something about the taste of a powerful bounce made me crave more. Not wanting to repeat the earlier incident, I ran out into the parking lot to give it a try. I threw it down with all my might and up, up, up it went, high enough to inspire naught but sheer delight in my innermost heart.
This was not a discovery of bliss I could keep to myself, so I ran back inside and told Froh, "Come outside Froh, I gotta show you something!" He asked what it was but I wouldn't tell him and simply chanted, "Come on, come on, come on!" He got up from the couch and followed me out, though not as fast as I'd've liked, and maybe there was a bit of disinterest there as well. I mean, he did have some reading to do. But all those thoughts vanished from his mind when he saw The Bounce. A look of sheer youthful delight broadened his face into a wide grinning smile as he saw the bouncyball soar high into the sky. He gave it a go and we both laughed at the sheer joy of it all. We spent several minutes out in the parking lot bouncing the ball insanely high to each other, until one misplaced bounce landed the ball at the road, and then it proceed on to roll to the other side the road. I ran across to get it and was instantly hit, not by a car, but an idea: I'd bounce it all the way back across the road! As I wound up for the bounce, a car crested the hill and made it's way towards us. I jumped up and threw the ball down, but unfortunately at a terrible angle. It's trajectory was less than optimal, and as it made it's way back down to earth it seemed like it wouldn't even make it across the road, let alone all the way to Froh. That car kept coming, the ball kept falling, and it almost looked as if... PLUNK! the bouncyball struck the roof of the car and then bounced off into the grass on the other side.
I let out a hearty laugh at the improbability of it, and the car got really offended and slowed WAY down, almost to a halt. It didn't quite know what had happened, but it was blaming me. I mocked the car (in my head, of course, and 5/8s in jest), saying that he was a cheap junker and the bouncyball couldn't possibly have left a dent anyways, and that he was just being silly for getting so offended. He wasn't quite convinced though and came to a full stop, and it looked like he would turn around and give me a piece of his mind, but then another car came up behind him and wondered why he was taking so long, and then they both moved on. Stupid car.... hahae, cars these days.. they don't make 'em how they used to.
Anyways, Froh and I bounced around a little longer before an even better idea struck me: how about bounce it over the apartments! I wound up for the shot, ran, jumped, and threw down. The bouncyball soared at a perfect trajectory, bounced off the top of the roof, then down off the other side out of view. Froh and I ran with glee to see how good the results were, and there, sitting innocently on our back patio, was the bouncyball. We congratulated ourselves on all the fun we had and then called it a day and went back to work.
