The World as a Blue Ball

The World as a Blue Ball by Michael Pérez



Lion brought together all the animals of the jungle, which up until recently could not have cared less about the creation of the world, but for some reason or other, it had become the chief interest of the jungle. Lion, the wisest animal of the entire Sierra, was among the few who knew the story. In an assembly organized by him and other council members, he approached the podium and began to tell the story of the creation of the world.



"The original birth of the Earth, before all the reincarnations, which due to fickleness of man are most likely numerous, began with a small, round ball. This ball was a beautiful blue. This humble orator would call it a sky blue, but the brilliant sight that we know now as the sky, was not in commission yet.  This blue ball spun over to its mother, the Sun, and complained it was lonely. The mother, to make her child happy, gave it an old dog. This old dog, she said, “Will be your guide and advisor throughout your life.” This satisfied the bright, blue ball, but even a sound satisfaction did not clear its doubts.



The blue ball did not think that it needed the guidance of the old dog, Ojisan. With this sense of rebellion, it sought to exhaust Ojisan through constant pleads for assistance with matters the blue ball considered “trivial”. The first trivial matter was that of how to go about the formation of land on the ball's blue surfaces and a sky to cover said land, that, it considered, “trivial”. The old dog, Ojisan, in his patience and wisdom replied earthily, “Wish it and it shall become.” The blue ball, annoyed with the trite response, decided to react by following the advice bestowed upon it by Ojisan, but this all under the preconceived notion that advice would fail utterly. So when the time came, the blue ball gave having land a half-hearted thought, and to his surprise, brownish-green masses started to develop on its blue surface and white masses in its air, it was in shock. In all honesty, it had never expected the outcome, and thus had planned to deride the old man incessantly for his miscalculations, but as it was, he could no longer do that.



Now, instead of trying to tire the old man, the blue ball sought to test him further until he either gave up or made a mistake, which ever came first would suit the ball splendidly. The new trial for the old man was the ball’s desire to have this newly formed mass on his surface be populated. When it asked Ojisan, the old dog first questioned, “What do you want to inhabit your land?” “I wish it to be covered with creatures that roam and live off my land, whether it be directly on land or in the air. I shall call them beasts and birds respectively. But to the question at hand, how would I get about fulfilling this one of my many desires?” The blue ball responded with an awfully hidden smirk. “Wish it and it shall become,” was again the saying of the old dog. “That odious saying! Oh, how I abhor it. I shall prove it false.” Hissed the ball as the old dog turned away. But again, in another half-hearted attempted, the old dog’s advice proved strong. Suddenly, small, yet noticeable, creatures began to roam the ball’s land and fly through its sky. It noticed that the beasts and birds began to ingest its blue surface and was surprised more so that even as its blue surface, we now call “water”, diminished due to its consumption, it was soon replenished by the very sky that hovered above it, in what we call “rain”.



In the third, and soon to be final, trial, the ball decided it wanted an ultimate beast, one that would rise above the rest and take control. It concluded that it was an achievement that could not possibly be completed by merely wishing for it. The ball called for Ojisan and told him of its desire. The old dog had wised up in the time of his service under the ball, and knew very well the secret purpose of its “desires”. Seeking to punish it severely whilst giving advice that fulfilled its desire, as was required of his post, and Ojisan was not one to disrespect his post, Ojisan replied, “Wait and it will become.” This ambiguous answer infuriated the ball. This utter rage transformed into a focused resolution as it finally disposed of the old dog, throwing him out into the universe. His remains tore apart, due to speed, and became what we know as "stars". Such was the end of the wise old dog, Ojisan.



But being tradition, or laziness perhaps, the ball decided to follow the late Ojisan’s advice to the letter and did absolutely nothing except wait. In this waiting the, now, sky blue ball did exactly as the wise, yet vengeful, old dog wanted. Ojisan had wished for the process of evolution to be set in motion during the ball's long period of waiting, and thus it did. The evolution came from the deepest, darkest jungle and the most savage, stubborn species, the monkeys. After much time, these monkeys became humans. These humans became the ultimate beast that the ball had desired, and it rejoiced in this. It spoiled the humans with everything under his designation, with everything from "accidental discoveries due to storms" to plentiful harvests and resources. This evolution and indulgence was all in the plan of the very late, very vengeful, very vindictive, old dog, which knew that the indulgence of humans would bring the creation of war, the creation of destruction, the ultimate oxymoron. At this point, it would only be a matter of time until the ball, now called "Earth", was damaged, if not destroyed, by the hands of very beasts it had desired and pampered."