Free In The Forest

“Is it supposed to look like that?” I turned around and hung my head down between my knees in a ridiculous attempt to get another perspective.

“I’m not sure. The glowing seems a little odd, though.” My roommate, John, brushed his brown hair out of his eyes to get a better look. The orb we had built had just suddenly started glowing. We weren’t sure why.

John and I were engineering majors. Our challenge: to create an orb that could float. Our teacher, Mrs. Willis, had been incredibly mysterious about the entire thing.

Well, our orb floated. In fact, it flew! It was zooming around our heads. It seemed to be exploring the room. And glowing. Glowing brightly. So brightly, we worried someone would discover us. And then, it started humming. Softly at first, but then louder and louder. Soon, it was bright as a star and louder than dice in a cup. It was also getting faster. It was a bright flash by our heads, everywhere at once.

“What did you do to it?” I whisper-screamed at John. I had to scream loud enough to be heard over the orb, but at the same time, whisper quiet enough to not make excess noise.

“I just put a cool-looking purple stone next to it. That’s the only thing I can think of that may have affected it!”

“Well, where is it now?”

“I don’t know! It’s gone!”

“Well, that’s just great!” I glared at John. “Help me catch the orb!” It was all over the room. I snatched at it, but only grabbed air. John clapped his hands above his head to try and grab it, but failed.

Suddenly, it stopped humming. It stopped glowing. It stopped flying around the room. It slowly settled back onto our desk.

John and I looked at each other and made a unanimous decision. I snatched up the orb. John opened the window. I threw it out as hard as I could - which, admittedly, wasn’t very far. But it was enough to make it land in the forests our college overlooked, far, far below.

We started our orb again. This one floated - barely. But enough to pass. It didn’t fly. It didn’t glow. It didn’t hum. We never saw our original orb again.

But I went for a walk two weeks later. I told John it was for inspiration, but not really. I walked where I was sure that it had fallen.

It wasn’t there. Nothing. No wreckage, no ruins. Absolutely nothing.

It was free in the forest.