Max's Favorite Tennis Ball

In the Mind of a Tennis Ball

His thick yellow fibers danced only slightly in the cold wind as it rushed past. The dirt beneath him was clinging harder, the collected grains now turning harder and forming a paste entangled in the fibers underneath him. Max’s slobber had both seemed to dry and solidify at the same time.

‘Strange. It has been weeks since Max has come to play.’ He thought.

Even in the furthest corner of the yard, the tall grass towering over him, he had never been able to hide from Max for too long. He was Max’s favorite tennis ball, after all. For a moment a hint of panic crept up, but quickly was dismissed. No way would his fury friend have found a new favorite ball. Nope, nothing could replace him in Max’s eyes, and soon enough his beautiful slobbering friend would snatch him out of the tall grass, shake the caked-on dirt off him, and they would once again have hours of adventures around the yard. Just the two of them playing together.

Perhaps, he would be carried to one of the humans. He loved that! The human would take him and soon he would be flying free through the air, before hiding among the plants, to be found by his friend.

‘Oh of course! I hadn’t thought of the obvious answer. Humans! Sometimes they take Max away for a short while and forget to bring me with Max. That’s it, surely.’ His mind yelled at him in delight.

Where is Max?

‘Yep! I must be right, obviously. Here comes one of the humans now. The grass is rather tall, they must be getting ready to pick me up so that they can run that loud machine that makes the grass short again. That means they will throw me to Max, and we will play like we always do.’

Suddenly, he was very excited. He noticed that it was the older human male that was headed his way. This human would always throw him the furthest, and he quickly began picturing flying through the air and looking back as Max tried to catch up to him as he came back down to the earth.

The older human was only a short distance away now! In fact, is he? Yes, he is! The human is looking right at him too. Any minute now, he will be….

‘Wait! The human stopped, looked at him, and then walked away. What’s going on?’

He watched in confusion and terror as the human continued walking and walking until he vanished from sight.

‘No! Come back! Take me to Max! It’s getting dark out here and much colder. Where is Max? I know he misses me as much as I miss him.’

No response. Nobody came back for him. It was just the cold wind, the grass brushing against his thick yellow fibers, and an unseen bug that was burrowing underneath him to escape the chill. Suddenly, everything felt still and quiet.

Everything Changes

Hours had passed so slowly, but now the sun’s warmth was a nice contrast to the chill of the wind through his fibers. Most of the world still seemed silent for the most part, but there were already hints of the world waking up to another day. Today was the day. He could feel it. Today he would get to play with Max again.

About an hour later…

Despite the blades of grass constantly slapping against him and obscuring his view, he could see the older human once again walked right for him. He had a box in his hands, and it didn’t seem like he wanted to be walking out here. The last time this human looked like that, we were taken to a new yard.

‘Maybe we’re moving again. That’s what’s kept them busy. That makes sense.’ He thought with a mix of confusion and excitement.

A moment later, the human picked him up and threw him into the box atop several other items. The mud that had been caked into his fibers, finally fell off and could be heard falling through the empty spaces of the other items, until they hit the bottom of the box.

‘Yes! Finally! Hmm, what is all this stuff?’

He looked around as best as he could. He noticed a chew toy, a couple bowls, an old dirty blanket, a leash, and a few other items that were unfamiliar to him. This was all Max’s stuff. Yep, he was sure they were moving again now.

He and the box of Max’s stuff were being carried down the driveway now and were, undoubtedly, going to be put into some sort of large vehicle like last time. This is so…

BAM!

‘Ouch! I can’t believe he dropped us!’ The whole box came crashing down onto the end of the driveway as the items all scattered into the side road. Of course, one great thing about being a tennis ball, though, is he was just bouncing now and, honestly, enjoying it. Finally, he was moving, and he felt like it was playtime again.

As he bounced around and up and down on the road, he screamed out to the human to catch him, with such delight. However, the human just glanced, with no expression, and then threw the last of the other items he had gathered back into the box. As his bouncing slowed down, he realized that he was bouncing down the hill and further and further away from his home. Away from Max’s home. As he went from bouncing to rolling down the hill, he saw the human toss the box into the big green garbage can.

‘But why?’

Slower and slower he continued to roll down the hill, then around the corner of the street, and now he was rolling across the front yard. He loved this front yard. He loved it because Max loved it. Max would always bring him out here and hold him tight under his favorite tree. So many Summer days and evenings were spent under that tree with Max. In fact… he should be getting near that tree any second now!

‘There it is!’ He heard himself shout out to nobody.

As he passed by the tree, he felt a sharp pain deep inside. He didn’t want to believe what he was looking at. It couldn’t be true. But somehow, he suddenly knew that it was true…

A Short New Journey

As though the entire world around him felt his pain, the clouds covered the sunlight and the sky turned dark. Moments later, the sky began to weep with him. Little by little as he rolled further down the incline of the street, he watched the tree fade off into the distance, until, finally, he could no longer see any trace of it.

Rolling and rolling along the street’s gutter, the rain falling and water rushing beneath him… but none of it mattered now. He was lost in himself. He felt the caked-on dirt, turned mud, being washed away in clumps, and carried away by the rushing water. It was a relief, but he knew that the same rain would take traces of Max from him, and that was almost too much to bear.

An unknown time later, he suddenly hit an object along the curb and just like that, he was no longer moving. He wondered how far away from his home he had travelled. How far was he from his memories? How far was he from all that he had ever known for the last several years?

Goodbye Max

Both the rain and the sun had gone away, with only the sun returning. It was the next day. He was still in the same spot along the street where he had stopped the day before. Perhaps this is where he would spend the rest of his existence.

As the thought echoed over and over inside him, he felt something cold and wet against him. He could hear the familiar, yet strange sounds of sniffing. He was a little annoyed but also curious. A moment later, he was being picked up by some other creature.

It took him a moment, but out of nowhere, he realized he knew this creature. As the realization came to him, it was quickly confirmed by the voice of a human yelling, “Scout! What is that? Don’t pick things up out of the street!”

It was Scout. Scout had been to see him and Max many, many times. They were great friends. Even as he wondered if Scout knew that their friend was gone, he was a little joyful to realize that he was now only a few houses down from home.

‘Whoa! I’m flying!’

He soared through the air for a moment and then rolled across the grass. Before he had even stopped moving, Scout’s nosed was pressed against him and that same sniffing tickled his fibers. He smiled inside, but then felt guilty.

‘Max is gone, I shouldn’t be enjoying playtime with his friend.’

His thoughts were again interrupted as Scout picked him up and began running. He heard the human yelling “Scout! Get back here, now!” He knew that Scout had to have heard it too, but there was no sign that this ride was going to end now. In fact, they seemed to be moving even faster now. It didn’t take long to realize the reason either, the human was now chasing them.

Faster and faster… further and further… Scout carried him, with no hesitation.

Then, suddenly… they stopped. He was dropped to the ground and into some dirt with a thud. Scout laid down beside him and pushed his nose against him. Only a few seconds later, the human stopped near them, but did and said nothing for a brief moment, before saying, “Oh, I see. I’m sorry, Buddy.”

It was then that he realized that Scout had dropped him at the bottom of a wooden cross. This was home. This is where Max laid in a sleep he would never wake up from. He thought of Max again and his heart hurt.

Then as Scout nudged him toward the cross with his nose, it occurred to him… he wasn’t the only one hurting. Scout was hurting too.

He could feel Scout’s hot breath on his fibers, and he could see the familiar pain in his eyes. They understood each other. They both missed their friend. They both needed to say goodbye.

Scout’s human picked up Scout and then turned away. Scout let out a whimper, and the human stopped in place. Suddenly, the human picked him up, and once again, Scout was holding him as they began to move further and further away from the tree and the cross.

He and Scout both watched as the cross faded slowly from sight. Just before it completely vanished, he thought out loud…

‘Goodbye Max. I’ll miss you. Don’t worry, I’ll take care of Scout for you.’

The End