The Ball Week

One of these woeful college spring days I happened upon a two meter high beach ball on my way home. It was down a long stretch of road which longues through the middle of campus, a high-activity walkway as it were—anchored at one end by our gym, and at the long other by a small food court. I was walking home from math down this route when I saw it, some 20 meters away. It was rolling slowly, like a royal surveying their barren lands. It was decorated, this Ball, with black sharpie in all sorts of squiggles. Most were too small, but three words towered over the rest, askew so I read it at some acute angle: “THE BALL WEEK”.

Drawing closer at my fast clip, the squiggles materialize into signatures (a change of context, not content) but the motivation, purpose, purveyor, and owner of this art exhibit remained unclear. Some kid stood near it, but their relation wasn’t clear—was it master and servant? invention and inventor? freeloader and kindly fellow? Was it anything beyond Ball and man? These thoughts echoed as I nipped past, as I turned again and again to verify the Ball’s veracity, as I turned the corner. The Ball. What a glorious emblem of college culture. A free spirit, truly. I was sadden by my passing, but I knew it to be inevitable; I was no guardian of the sphere. I completed my walk home in deferent silence appropriate after witnessing such an unique event.

Imagine my surprise when I met the Ball again, on a different route home, again after math! Four days had passed and I had resigned myself to only emblazoning the memory for eons; and lo! my unsung prayers were heard. Overjoyed, I caught sight of the Ball from far away, its current stewards standing guard—they were unfamiliar—and it waved to me! I think—it could’ve been the wind, but I am a Believer of the Sphere. This time I showed the Ball more respect as I walked past, slowing down so as to mitigate any unsavory rocking motions to the Ball induced by my draft. I daren’t sign it for how could I defile perfection? but I did revel in it.

Ah, the Ball. The Ball Week. What a wonderful college week that was.