The big red ball came crashing through the window. The Smith family was stunned. “Where’d that come from?” asked John. He got no replies; the rest of the family was just as clueless as he was. John, being the only member of the Smith family with any sort of courage, got up out of his chair to examine the ball more closely. It was far from an ordinary playground kickball; the ball had a kind of glow to it, was very warm and subtly vibrating. John had also never seen a shade of red as bright and vibrant as there was on this ball. “Well, should I pick it up?” he queried. Getting again no responses just looks of anxiety and nervousness, John realized he was just going to have to do it so he could get a better look. He bent down slowly and with shaking hands picked up the ball. It felt smooth and warm to the touch, like it was alive. He could feel the vibrations coming off of the ball. He turned to face his family, and was not surprised to find that they all had looks of fear on their faces. John set the ball on the table in the middle of the room and stepped back so everyone else could see. John’s younger brother Joey got up too and moved closer to the ball. Joey slowly reached out to touch the glowing ball, but just as he was about make contact the ball cracked open and released a huge cloud of golden-red smoke. The Smith family jumped back as the strangely colored smoke filled the entire room. The room remained quiet and the family stared in awe as the smoke cleared, revealing a bright golden light engulfing the ball.
As the Smith family intently stared at the ball, the smoke cleared and the light dimmed. There was nothing inside. Confused and a bit frightened by this strange object, a knock at the door made them jump. Who could it be? John got up out of his chair and walked to the door. As he opened the door he was surprised to see his neighbor Billy. Billy was very intelligent and a bit “geeky”. John wondered what Billy could possibly need right now. There was something more important going on in the other room. Billy said wearily, “Hello John. I am very sorry to inconvenience you with my visit, but more importantly I am sorry to inconvenience you with my science experiment taking a crash into your window. I am experimenting with radioactive isotopes and how they interact with regular elements.” This was like a foreign language to John, but he did understand that the unknown red ball belonged to big brained Billy.
Billy entered the house and explained his experiment to the Smith’s. They all felt a bit foolish for fearing that big red ball, yet no one would admit to that. Billy took his experimental ball back home, and the Smith’s moved on to the rest of their daily routines. Although in the back of their minds, they continued to think about their experience with the big red ball.
