Ball Of Light

• Ben Paavonpera-Agius, Grade 6
• Short Story
• 2014

One day in a cold, cold world, in a cold, dark city, in a cold dark house, a little boy named Norman lived with his mother Caroline and his pet dog Ruffus.
One day, Norman went to the park with Ruffus. Of course, it was cold, dark and over- whelmed with sorrow, so Norman had no fun. He just stood there, mesmerised in his own sorrow, when all of a sudden he felt a chill down his spine. He turned around to see an old dark man staring at him with his cold, dead eyes. They looked at each other, as if they saw each other as the only glimpse of colour in the world. The man extended a hand and opened his palm to reveal a bright red ball. Norman had never seen any other colour than black and grey. He took the ball and the man creepily stared at him. Norman looked at the ball and then looked back up at the man. To his surprise the man was gone. Norman then started the long walk home through the abandoned streets that he always walked.
He was walking past the hairdressers when he stopped. There was a giant pair of scissors on top of the shop. Norman stood there staring at the scissors. He could feel the sadness of who ever worked there. He then threw the ball at the scissors. He did not know why but he did. At that moment the scissors erupted with colour and happiness. Norman than noticed what he had found. He then ran home as fast as he could.
When he got home he noticed he had forgotten the ball. He swiftly ran all the way back to find nothing. He could not see the ball anywhere. He started searching for it. He was starting to feel anxious and gritting his teeth. He looked through the sad, dead grass but found nothing. He then noticed that his faithful companion Ruffus was missing. He did not know what to do so he ran home and obviously cried.
He cried himself to sleep and dreamt about his beloved dog who kept him company for all those years. His only friend. He woke up to a large BANG and a CRACK! The ball smashed through his window and then was caught by his dog Ruffus, who was suddenly there. Norman patted his companion and saw a note tucked into his collar. Norman picked it out. It was really cold. He then started to read. It read “Dear reader, I see you are the owner of the ball, the ball of light. What you do with it is up to you.” It had no name. Norman chose the right path and gave it to scientists, who then studied it for years and years. The scientists were overjoyed when they found out how to spread this across the world. How they did this is not certain. But it made people very happy.