Cautionary Tale 5

When I was a child I had a ball. It was small and orange. I liked to play with my ball in the backyard of the house where I lived. I would throw the ball high into the air and catch it again. This simple game delighted me and the world seemed such an uncomplicated place. One day I accidentally threw the ball over my neighbour’s fence. My neighbour was an angry old woman with children that rarely ever visited her. She refused to give my ball back to me and so the game, and my delight, ceased. I begged, I cried, but she would not return the ball. Suddenly I became aware of the fleeting nature of happiness, of the unfairness and meanness in the world. Eventually I skinned my neighbour, rubbed salt into her raw flesh and then burned her house. Now, many years later, while I play with my orange ball in my backyard, the world again feels safe and happy.