Blue Golf Ball
for Christmas
Written by Ifay Chang on
Thanksgiving Day
for
his family especially for
Jemmin, the second grader (2002)
Walk with My
Dad
On a sunny Winter Saturday morning, my Dad took me
to a walk on a golf course. The golf course is adjacent to our backyard
separated by woods of pine, maple and oak trees. Walking along the golf cart
pavement early in the morning is fun. You don't get your shoes wet. You see
birds and rabbits, even wild turkeys. You can sometimes find golf balls in the
grass and in the woods. My Dad always can tell why a golf ball is landed where
it is found. I am so glad that golf is a very difficult game and so many people
would lose their golf balls in their games.
As always, I kept my eyes wandering off the side of the
paved road. If I did see something resembling a golf ball, I would run to
check. You really had to have good eyes though, because sometimes the golf ball
was covered with frost or snow and you would miss it. My brother would always
join Dad and me if he didn't have his soccer training. As an agreement between
brother and sister, I would give him one if I would find more than one golf
ball.
I will always remember December 7 as Julie's
luckiest day. Julie is my name. Jerry is my brother's name. On that Saturday
morning, I had found seven golf balls including one that is very, very
different. The golf balls we usually found were white with the name Angel Creek
on it. The special one, I had found on December 7, was blue color, a bright
blue like the blue M&M with bar code like numbers on it. When I first
spotted it from a distance, I thought it was a broken blue jade eggshell. Jerry
had found blue jade eggs in the woods before. He had brought them back to the
bird nest under our porch and they hatched into lovely birds. When I looked at
the blue color again, I knew it wasn't a broken eggshell. It was much
larger.
An Unusual
Golf Ball
The blue golf ball I found was very unusual. It was
not just because it was blue. Some of my friends said they had seen blue golf
balls in the sports shop. My blue golf ball was a little bigger than the Angel
Creek white golf balls I found. It had the similar pits but one of the pits
went through as a hole to the opposite side. My Dad said it was very unusual if
it were a golf ball. The hole in the ball was like being drilled by someone. I
was so excited when Dad said I could keep it.
My coat pocket was full that morning, but I kept my
hands in the pocket and kept on
touching the blue golf ball for being afraid of
losing it. Strangely, I seemed to feel a tiny bit of vibration from the blue
golf ball when I touched it. I was glad to feel that way because it made me
sure I did not lose it. I was so anxious to show Jerry my blue golf ball. I
knew he would like it too. I decided that I would keep my blue golf ball and
gave him five white balls so he won't feel so bad.
On the way home, I had kept the blue golf ball in my
right coat pocket. I felt my right hand was warmer than my left hand. My Dad
said, for right-handed person, her right hand could be always warmer than her
left hand. I did not tell him, though, I thought the blue golf ball was keeping
my right hand warmer, a nice feeling.
Having Fun
with My Blue Golf Ball
When we got home, as usual, we had to wash our hands
with soap and water. I washed the golf balls with liquid soap and dried them
with a clean towel. There was no blue color coming off the blue golf ball so
Mom also said that I could keep it. When I was washing the golf balls, I
noticed the blue ball did not sink to the bottom of the basin. It floated
midway in the water with the hole upright. The other white golf balls all sunk
to the bottom of the basin. More strangely, I could see the blue ball turning
slowly in the water. I was wondering whether that was why the blue ball could
make itself afloat.
Jerry was in sixth grade and I was in third. Jerry
knew more about science, biology, math, and everything than I did. Even though
I was having fun playing with my newfound golf balls but I was very anxious to
see Jerry home from his soccer practice. I had a bunch of questions to ask him
about this blue golf ball.
When I rolled the golf balls on the carpet, the blue
ball always turning and trying to keep its hole straight up. I tried zillion
times and it always stopped with the hole straight up. Wasn't that very
strange? When I put the ball sideways on the floor with the hole horizontal
rather than vertical, it slowly rolled to its upright position as if something
inside was controlling the ball. I could not understand it. I decided to ask
Jerry when he would come home. If jerry did not have the answers then we would
ask Mom and Dad.
Many Answers
But ….
Jerry, as I predicted, was just excited as I was
when he saw the blue golf ball. He didn't bother to tell us anything about his
soccer practice. He kept asking where did you find it? Where did you find it?
He wanted to go to the golf course, but Dad said no, because people would be
already playing their games. We were not allowed to get close to the course
without Dad because the flying balls might hurt us.
Jerry accepted the five white golf balls I gave him
and he was very nice to me. I let him examine the blue golf ball and I
bombarded him with all my questions. I always respected my brother who usually
had answers to questions that I didn't have any clue. While we played together
about an hour, he had some answers to my questions. We also decided to give our
blue golf ball a nickname, Magnet, because it seems to be magnetic. Jerry and I
wrote down the facts and some of his answers about my blue golf ball:
1. The blue ball is probably a golf ball because it
has the usual pits on its surface. It may be used for training. It was found on
a golf course.
2. The hole is made by a drill not by a bullet
shooting through it. The hole is too perfect.
3. The ball is slightly bigger than the white golf
ball probably because it is a special golf-training ball so it will look
different from the regular golf balls.
4. The ball either have a magnet inside or the whole
ball is made of magnetic material. That is why the ball always rolls to a stop
with the hole upright. It may be pointing to a different angle if it was
brought to North Pole or South Pole Jerry said. Unfortunately, we can't test
that.
5. The ball probably has air inside that is why it
floats in the water. It has something to do with the weight and volume of the
ball. It slowly turns in the water, perhaps, because the water is not still.
6. Jerry did not feel any vibration from the ball
and said it was my imagination. So he claimed that I was imagining Magnet was
keeping my hand warm. But I wondered…
Some of these answers did make sense but I just
could not accept them all.
A Pretty
Ornament for the Christmas Tree
A few days after I found my blue golf ball, Mom and
Dad got a big pine tree for Christmas. The pine tree was a big blue spruce just
like those in our backyard near the golf course. We always liked to decorate
Christmas trees. It gave us a chance to dig out our old ornaments and add new
ones. This year Jerry and I both agreed that the blue golf ball would be our
new star ornament on the Christmas tree.
We strung a rubber band through the hole and put a
paper clip on one end of the hole and twisted the rubber bands a few turns and
hung it right under the lighted star on the tip-top of the Christmas tree. The
blue golf ball actually turned slowly reflecting the light making people
noticing it right away. It did create another question in my mind though; the
blue golf ball was just kept on turning left and right never stopping, why?
Wasn't the rubber band supposed to get tired?
We had put on some other pretty ornaments on the
tree. A few glass snowflakes, a couple of sets of blinking lights and some
miniature dolls that could play music when they were wound up. But I liked the blue golf ball the best. It
seemed to follow the rhythm of the music and reflect the lights around it in a
way like dancing. When I walked by close, the blue golf ball was turning faster
as if it was waving at me. I swore I sometimes heard my name being called when
I stood close to the blue golf ball. It was really weird but I did not tell any
one.
Christmas Eve
I like holidays. I like school days too but holidays
are better. I was counting days before the arrival of Christmas. No one but me
seemed to notice that our pretty blue golf ball was turning faster each day,
even without any music playing. As usual, Dad and Mom began putting presents
under the tree for our friends and relatives. Jerry and I had to wait for Santa
to deliver our presents. We knew they would not be delivered until Christmas
day. I always made sure that I did fall in sleep before midnight so I would
receive my presents in the morning.
This year I had wished that I would get a new bike.
I felt so lucky to have found the blue golf ball, I did not care to ask for
anything else like dolls or games. I knew Jerry had wished to get a blue golf
ball of his own. That would be cool if
we each had one to play with. I was wondering whether or not my blue golf ball
could do other things we did not know about.
I talked about my blue golf ball to my friends in
school but I did not yet bring it to show them. Jerry was against bringing it
to school for being afraid of losing it. Although he was trying to explain
everything about the blue golf ball, he knew there was some thing magic about
it. He did not want to talk about them for being afraid of losing its magic
power. He did confess to me one thing. When he bounced the blue golf ball once,
the ball was jumping higher and higher not lower and lower against the gravity.
He had to quickly catch it and stop it. He did not want to bounce the ball
again, he said, we might lose the ball. This added another puzzle in my head,
how could it jump against gravity?
Scary Things
Happened
I wanted to make very sure that I fell in sleep
before midnight on Christmas Eve. I had a big portion of turkey dinner, sweet
potato, cranberry salad and my favorite pumpkin pie with chocolate mint ice
cream toppings. Jerry even went to bed earlier than I did. By 11 O'clock, the
house was very quiet. I guessed I was asleep by then.
It seemed a long while when I heard some music
playing. The music was coming from far places and got louder and louder. Then I
heard some noises coming from the living room, strange noises that I could not
explain. I first thought it might be Mom and Dad playing their seventies music
but then there were not familiar sounds at all. Then there was the thumping
sound sort of like wooden drums. What made my skin to grow goose bumps was
hearing my name Julie being spoken…..We will take Julie with us….. We will have
to get Julie ….
I was so afraid of getting up not so much of
worrying not getting my bike from Santa but I was really scared of the sounds I
heard. Then the wooden drums would not stop. They made my heart pump faster.
They were not loud but they seemed to increase in number and in pitches as if
there were hundreds of drums being played. The number of thumps just kept
growing every minute. I could not go back to sleep even I wanted to. I was
scared but then I said to myself, this is your own home, why you are so scared?
Finally, I got up and tiptoed to downstairs to the living room to see what was
going on…..
Oh, My God ……
When I got to the living room, the sight was
unbelievable. Oh, my God, there were hundreds, no, thousands of blue golf balls
bouncing on the floor. That was where the thumping sounds came from. They were all bouncing around the blue
Christmas tree. Each blue ball was also spinning at an incredible speed. I immediately
looked at my blue golf ball hanging on top of the tree. There was my Magnet,
spinning and turning with a lightening speed, it looked like a shining light
itself. Then I noticed that when Magnet
was turning right, the other blue balls were bouncing up. When Magnet was
turning left, the other balls were bouncing down. They were sort of following
him as the leader.
All of a sudden, the bouncing balls began to circle
around me like a swarm of bees attacking a person. I was so scared and I could
not even scream. Then I felt I was pushed by the balls towards Magnet. I had
wanted to run to Jerry and wake him up but I could not move my feet any other
way. My tears were running and my throat was dry and I could not make a single
sound. The blue balls just kept flying into my body. It wasn't very painful but
I could feel them pounding me. I was pushed towards the Christmas tree. Then I
felt hundreds of balls pushing my right arm up towards Magnet. Magnet stopped
turning. Magnet was waiting for my hand to reach him. My hand was trembling and I could not control my body and my arm
as if I was under a magic spell.
All of a sudden, Magnet spoke in a human voice: "Hi, Julie. Don't be afraid. I learned
your language while I was listening to you talk." "These are my
friends from my home in Silver Spoon Galaxy" "We are Spoonies."
"I invited them to visit you and to experience a Christmas holiday. I sort
of like your Christmas spirit." "My parents found out where I was
thanks to you." "You hung me on this tree next to these lights, they
gave me energy to send a message back home." "You were so nice to me.
I knew there was no danger staying here and so I invited my friends to visit me
and to get me back." "We want to invite you to visit our home too,
but we have to do it secretly."
I was speechless. I could not talk and I was
shaking. Then Magnet said:
"We will not harm you. We are all your friends
now. We come from Silver Spoon, a few hundred million miles away. We are
several millions of years ahead of your civilization. We evolved from a bug,
sort of like your lady bug. Within our body, we can store and generate energy
and we can produce chemical nutrients we need. When I was wondering off too far
from Silver Spoon, I ran out of nutrients. My body directed my flight towards
earth where I could get the nutrient I need from your Blue Spruce trees. When
you discovered me, I was just recuperating and I was trying to synthesize
nutrients from your trees."
I blurted out:
"You live on pine trees?"
"Sure, we do. Trees are important to us. I am
sure they are important to humans as well. I see you have kept a large surface
area of the earth for growing trees. That is very wise of you."
"Didn't you see my friends were very happy bouncing around the Blue Spruce.
They are just synthesizing the nutrients they need to get back home."
"By the way, we got to get going so you may
come with us. There is a Space Tunnel forming each time around your Christmas
time. Travelling in the Space Tunnel saves time, sort of going backwards in
time." "If we started now, we would arrive at Silver Spoon your time
yesterday. We can get you back by your time tomorrow."
Without waiting for my answer, the blue golf balls
swarm around me and formed a cloud. I felt dizzy with lights shining all over
me. I felt being lifted up by the cloud, first through the window then up to
the sky. Then I felt Magnet landed in my palm and said:
"Julie, Close your eyes and your mind as if
taking a nap. Just leave the journey to us. We will soon enter the Space
Tunnel. Almost in a blink of eye, we soon would be in Round City, Silver Spoon
if we did not encounter any trouble."
Trouble
Through Space Tunnel
I had really closed my mind as I floated in space. I
began to feel warmth around me as there were millions of tiny lights shinning
over my body. I felt dizzy and sleepy when we picked up speed. Magnet had told
me that we would be travelling above the speed of light. I felt like I was
diving into a swimming pool with arms stretched trying to reach the bottom, but
it was a very deep bottomless pool. I did not know how long I was sleeping. I
was awakened by Magnet with a warning.
"Julie, Don't make any sound. We will hide you
from the Looties. We are captured by the Lootie Soldiers. Looties are the space
bandits from the Colony of Golden Crown. They have set up a loot booth in the
Space Tunnel to capture the space travelers. They did not see you. They thought
there were just millions of us Spoonies. The Crown King wears a golden crown
and he commands the Looties. He is a very brutal and greedy bandit. Since we
did not carry any valuable goods with us, he is demanding us to work as slaves
for his Colony. The Lootie Soldiers are very big and strong shaped like a giant
football, we can not fight them without our special forces. My Cousin is trying
to negotiate with the Crown King to let some of us go and bring back some goods
to exchange for the rest."
I did not dare to make a sound but I felt being
squeezed. Then I heard:
"Anyone traveling through my loot booth must
pay goods. What have you got to pay me?"
"We did not carry any goods. We were just
checking out the Space Tunnel for our leader to travel next season. We would be
glad to bring you some goods if you would let some of us go. Some of us will stay and work for you. We
are very good in construction work and we don't need to be fed."
"How far you have to travel? What can you bring
back to me?"
"We are Spoonies from Silver Spoon and we live
about 3 million miles away. We will bring back minerals to you. We have plenty
of silver ores."
"Silver? Does that make the space roof
shinny?"
"Yes Sir, Silver makes the space roof shinny
and reflects cosmic rays away."
" Um… I will let half of you go and send half
of you to Crown Colony to work. If you did not bring back the silver, they
would be killed before nest Season."
"Yes Sir, we agree."
Another Stop In The Space Tunnel
Magnet told me to keep very quiet. Then half of the
Spoonies swarmed away from me and were led by the Lootie Soldiers to the Crown
Colony. We began to move in speed again. Magnet told me we would travel a
little faster because they wanted to make a stop at their friends' place, The
Copper Saucers Palace.
I was getting dizzy again but before I had fallen in
sleep, Magnet warned me that we would make a sudden stop. This stop almost
killed me. I was pressed like a sandwich and could not breathe. Magnet
immediately gave an order to the Spoonies to produce more oxygen for me, then I
felt better and opened my eyes. Wah! I was in a most beautiful city of high
rise. Every building was cylindrical with a large circular roof. They looked
like thousands of mushrooms except they were very shinny with the roof in
silver color and the body with copper color. It reminded my Lego set except they
were prettier.
Magnet left my palm and flew to meet the Emperor of
Copper Saucers Palace. They spoke in a strange language sounded like water
spraying over dishes. One of the Spoonies had to translate for me:
"Dear Emperor of Copper Saucers Palace, we came
here for help. We were stopped by the Looties in the Space Tunnel. These
bandits had advanced far more towards us now. They had captured half of our
people and were waiting for us to bring minerals for exchange."
"My Spoony friends, this is terrible and
totally uncivilized in Space. I shall communicate with your Governors and come
up with a plan. We have developed a Copper Laser Gun to defend ourselves. We
can make smaller versions for weapons if we have to. How are you progressing
with your bouncer bombs since last I visited you?"
"Our bouncer bombs are completed but they are
kept away from people because of their power. We have derived a miniature
replica to be kept in our body. We, Spoonies, now can bounce higher and higher
almost with no limit. We really don't know what the bouncer bomb will do to
enemies since we never have had any chance to use it."
"Very good. The Looties must be stopped. They
are a very serious threat to all of us. Every season he is robbing people and
adding strength to his army. We will have to use our special weapons and
special forces against them. Here, let me draft a letter to your Governors for
you to bring back. We shall be united to fight the Looties."
Silver Spoon
Experience
I had felt very tired and had to close my mind to
rest. I felt nothing when we took off again. We might have traveled a while
before we stopped travelling through space. I slowly began to feel warmth
around me again. Millions of tiny lights shinning over my body seemed to get
brighter. Some of them began to move away. I felt I was descending into the
swimming pool with a floating force lifting me up.
"Wake up Julie, we are here at the Capital of
Silver Spoon, called Round City." "Some of my friends will stay
around you as your space suit. They will take you wherever you want to go. I
have taught them your language. You can give them your commands." "I
must report to my parents immediately. They are the Mayors of Round City and
Member Governors of the Silver Spoon. Silver Spoon is governed by a board of
governors. We have one hundred and seven Roundlets, smaller city than Round
City. I hope they will not give me a severe punishment for wandering off to
Earth planet. I also hope they will not be too upset by my losing half of my
Spoonies to the Looties. I hope when they see you they will be delighted to
know that Earth is friendly and I hope they will forgive me…."
Magnet left my hand and flew away. I was left in a
horizontal floating position. I could look around. I noticed that every object
I saw was a round sphere, including even trees. Yes, there were many, many
trees but they were shaped like a ball with round pockets just right for the
blue golf balls to fit in. I figured that were the places for getting their
nutrients. Then I saw some giant spheres. I asked what were they. A blue golf
ball landed in my hand and said:
"I am a coupling of your friend Magnet. Well, a
coupling is sort of like your cousin on Earth. We are related. It was I who had
traveled with Magnet but lost him in space. I am really glad that you have
saved him or I will be severely punished for sure. Our names are numbers
relating to our genetic code sequence. I sort of like the name you gave to
Magnet. Can you give me a nickname, too?"
"Sure, I would love to give you a name. Why
don't I call you Compass? Do you like that?"
"Yes, I like the name a lot. Let me tell you
about the large spheres you were asking. These large spheres are our schools,
the bigger their size the higher are their grades. Magnet and I both went through
7th grade. That is the highest education grade in Round City."
"After 7th grade we suppose to have learned everything we need
to know to manage our own lives."
"What are the purple sphere over there?"
"That is a special training school for those
who have made mistakes in their lives. I hope Magnet and I will not be put in
the Purple School for what we did." "Perhaps, you can tell his
parents; the Mayors are his parents. You know. May be you can help us by
telling them: Magnet did not do any harm to Earth. You are glad to have the
opportunity to visit Round City. Please make sure you tell them you do want to
go back to your home. The Space Tunnel will be closed in a few hours. You have
to make the journey home before the space tunnel closes. You can help us fight
the Looties. Can't you?" "If you missed the Space Tunnel Season, you
would be missing one whole year. You can only get back home on your next
Christmas."
Boy, Compass certainly told me a lot. There were so
much for me to see in the Round City and I had so many questions to ask. I
really wanted to stay a little longer. I wanted to know how their schools were
like. I wanted to know how they had fun. I wanted to know how they could keep
themselves floating. I wanted to know why they had a hole in their spherical
body. I wanted to know how could they travel so fast. I wanted to know their
bouncer bomb and Copper Saucers' Laser Gun. But then I thought about Jerry, Mom
and Dad. How they would worry if I had disappeared for a year? Jerry would
notice that the blue golf ball was missing but he could not figure out where I
could be, never in a million years!. Dad probably would go to the police and
hire a detective to find me. Mom would cry and blame on the blue golf ball if
Jerry told her the strange things about Magnet. I was also worried how would I
go back by myself? Would anyone go back with me? Would they win the war against
the Looties? If they did win and how would they send me back to Earth and get
back before the Space Tunnel closes. ….
I didn't know what to do. I needed a friend to talk
to and help me. I decided to see Magnet's parents immediately to find Magnet. I
was hoping Magnet could help me. I
asked Compass to take me to Magnet's parents immediately ….
Punishment and
War Plan
"We had decided that you should spend one year
in the training school. You would sit on the training stick with no freedom to
move for a year until you have learned discipline, common sense and judgement.
As for the Looties, we will have a Governors Meeting to decide what to do
…."
Magnet was in tears when he heard his parents'
decision. I was shocked and sad for Magnet. Ignoring Compass' advice, Julie
burst out and said:
"Sir, you can't do that. Magnet has to get me
back home. I want to go home. I don't think I will enjoy staying here while
Magnet is being punished for having visited Earth. If I would tell my parents,
I had visited Round City; I would not get punished. Please let Magnet take me
home. He can study discipline, common sense and judgement on Earth, can't
he?"
"S9142486429, is this girl from Earth? We have
a serious War Plan to make. You shouldn't take her here. Take her to see the
city. We will announce your punishment later."
I interrupted again. I was surprised with my
courage. I said,
"Sir, you can not punish Magnet and Compass.
They have to go back to save the others from the Looties. I will go with them.
I can fight. I used Laser swords. I knew how to bounce and threw spear bombs. I
have made very high score in War Station III playing with my brother
Jerry."
I changed the name of Play Station to War Station
hoping the Governors will take me more seriously. Mentioning Jerry made me sad
and I began to sob.
Magnet's parents stared at Compass hard for letting
someone come in unannounced. They then stared at Magnet who kept his head
bowed. They then looked at each other. It probably occurred to them, keeping me
here would be like kidnapping a child. They probably felt sorry because I was
crying. They got to get me back. They also knew the Space Tunnel would be
closing soon. After thinking for a while, they asked Magnet and Compass, could
they lead the Spoonies to fight the Looties to pay for his punishment. would
they be willing to take Julie back and study on Earth for a year till next
Christmas. Guess what? Magnet and Compass both said yes.
For the next hour, The Governors of Round City was
very busy. They convened the Governor's Board. They decided to organize an army
with Magnet and Compass to be the commanders. They decided to release the bouncer
bombs for the army to use. They sent a spacegram to the Emperor of Copper
Saucers Palace to inviting him to be an ally. They requested the Emperor to
release their new Copper Laser Gun for the united army to use.
They then ordered the School Master to construct a
special training sphere with two learning stools. He ordered a special guest
chair to be made for me to travel in or to fight with. He then gathered some
learning materials about discipline, common sense and judgement, a total of six
thousand volumes for Magnet and Compass. To repay what they did, they would
have to win the war and save their citizens. The passing score for learning
discipline would be sitting on the learning stool for a year while on Earth
without leaving the learning post. The passing score for learning common sense
would be avoiding revealing themselves while on Earth to anyone. The passing
score for learning judgement would be for Magnet and Compass to study all
Christmas stories on Earth and make a sound judgement whether Christmas should
be celebrated in Round City. The Governors also laid down a few rules for
Magnet, Compass and me, Julie:
1.
Fight
hard and win the war against the Looties and send the rescued citizens back to
Round City. Julie can demonstrate the fighting strategies in War Station III to
Spoonies and to the Saucers via SpaceVision before departure.
2.
Forever,
they can not reveal the secrets of Spoonies, that is Magnet, Compass and Round
City to anyone except Jerry if Jerry obeys the same rule.
3.
Magnet
and Compass must study the six thousand volumes of training materials and all
the Christmas stories within a year.
4.
The
training sphere must be hidden from people and it will be left for Julie and
Jerry when Magnet and Compass are ready to return by the next Space Tunnel
season.
Preparation
for the War
The return trip to me was more mysterious than the
first trip. I was travelling in a large round sphere with a floating chair,
inside the sphere. There was the small training sphere with two learning posts.
Now I knew why there was a hole in the blue golf ball. The hole fit in nicely
over the learning post. Magnet and Compass were sitting or perhaps standing on
the posts from the beginning of the journey. In front of these learning posts
are their command center. They can communicate with the millions of Spoonies
and give their commands. They can see the bouncer bomb cannons being carried by
the Spoonie Special Force Squads. On the side, the top and the bottom of the
flying sphere, they have constructed hangers for the large Copper Laser Guns. I
had never seen any army so efficiently organized in such a short time. It was
just like we did on our play station III. We could select our weapons very
quickly.
In the command sphere, Magnet and Compass could talk
to me. They seemed very confident about their war against the Looties. They
seemed not mind the one year stay on Earth at all as long as they kept each
other company. In the travelling sphere the Governor had given me another blue
golf ball for me to keep since I would lose Magnet. This sphere was made with
two round wheels perpendicular to each other with a small seat on top. The
Governor said this, a Spoonie bike, would be his Christmas present for me.
I had demonstrated how we fought with laser guns,
flying disks and spears and bombs in the War Station III. I taught all the
tricks I knew and the tricks I learned from Jerry. The Spoonies were peaceful
people never had much fighting experience, but they were extremely intelligent
and they learned very fast. They were glad to have these lessons from an Earth
Girl. They learned to attack first not just to react. With their special
weapons, they could really deliver some power. They were also fearless. I had
learned their biggest secret, they could repair themselves efficiently no
matter how badly they were damaged. They made me very confident too.
Battle Against
The Looties
It was quite a sight when we took off for the war.
Swarms of Spoonies formed in patterns like the Canadian Geese flying across
continents. They change patterns in different geometric shapes and practiced
shooting with simulated beams. They are beautiful to watch from our commanding
sphere. It was even more beautiful when the Copper Saucers joined them in the
flight. Thousands of Copper saucers and Millions of Silver Spheres covered the
entire space view.
As we came closer to the Lootie Booth in the Space
Tunnel. Magnet and Compass discussed with the Copper Saucer Commander whether
they should just strike the Looties or give them an ultimatum first. Then they
decided to give them an ultimatum but not give them much time for them to
prepare the fight. They ordered the squad commanders to mount the Copper Laser
Guns on the Spoonies command spheres. They also attached some of the bouncer
bombs on the flying saucers. They were ready as they approached the Lootie
Booth.
Magnet made the first move by sending a spacegram to
the Looties demanding them to surrender and release all the prisoners or face
destruction. They gave the Looties sixty seconds to respond following their
warning shot with the simulated laser beam. They aimed at the Crown on the
Crown King's head. The Laser Beam zapped the Crown but the King did not feel
threatened. He ordered his Crown Soldiers to embark their battleships immediately
and open fire. They aimed at the swarm of Spoonies. Their explosives were
powerful enough to blow the swarms apart. Now there was no peace. The fierce
battle began.
Initially, the Looties seemed to be overwhelming
with their fire power. The Spoonies Groups were broken up. The Saucer Squads
were also being chased. As the battle continued, both the Saucers and Spoonies
got better with their Laser aiming. They took out quite a few Crown Looties
battleships. Then they realized their power of bouncer bombs. When they fired
the bombs into the enemy zone, the bouncers just began to bounce off the
battleship and sent them away to infinity. As they made each bounce they gained
more energy and became more powerful.
Their visor camera was trained on the enemy battleship. They would keep
bouncing until they knock out all the enemy ships.
In the meaning time, Magnet and Compass were using
their big laser guns to fire at the Gold Crown Lootie. Everything within a mile
of the King was burned to ashes. The king had no place to hide and he saw his
battleships were destroyed one by one. He knew he had lost. As he was trying to
run to the prisoners' camp to hide, a bouncer bomb landed behind him and
bounced on his hip. He was bounced out of the Space Tunnel to Infinity.
Journey Back
To Earth
Magnet and Compass gathered their army and declared
victory. They released all prisoners and gave them spaceships to return home.
They wasted no time to organize the Spoonies to return to Silver Spoon. The
Copper Saucers took the Lootie Soldiers as prisoners and brought them back to
Copper Saucer Palace for judgement. Since there was very little time left for
the Space Tunnel to remain open, Magnet, Compass and I bid farewell to others
and launched our traveling sphere to Earth.
Magnet had put the Sphere in auto pilot so we all
could have some rest. I fell to a deep sleep. My body was just too tired after
witnessing such a fierce space battle. I was very glad that my War Station game
skill was useful to the Spoonies. I was having an exciting dream on my way home
to Earth.
As we entered the earth atmosphere and landed right
in my backyard next to a big Blue Spruce, the big blue travelling sphere
disintegrated. Magnet and Compass sitting in the training sphere rolled right
out. I was sitting next to them holding my present, the space bike. While I was
just opening up my eyes, I heard Jerry calling my name. I called back: Jerry,
here, I am here.
Best Christmas
Ever
Jerry came to me right away and told me he was
awakened up by some strange noises. It was so strange, he was not sure whether
he should get up or cover his ears with pillows. The noise got louder and
seemed to be coming closer to the house. He then got up and checked my room
first. He found out I was missing. Then he quickly went downstairs and he found
that the blue golf ball on the Christmas tree was gone too. Then he decided to
come out to look for me. I could tell Jerry was glad to see me.
I then asked Jerry:
"Can you swear to keep a secret? If you can,
then, I will tell you a big secret about Our blue golf ball!"
"Sure, I swear I will keep a secret forever.
You mean Our blue golf ball?"
I then told Jerry about Magnet and Compass. Jerry
was shocked and would never have believed me if Magnet and Compass did not come
out of the blue sphere and spoke out:
"Hi, Jerry. We are pleased to meet you."
Jerry with eyes wide and mouth open just could not
speak a word.
I then explained to him who they were and they were
supposed to be hiding here for a year. We then quickly began to dig a small
cave in our backyard for Magnet and Compass. Of course, we swore we would never
tell anybody about our secret. Not to a single soul on Earth!.
When we settled Magnet and Compass, Jerry and I went
inside our house. We hung Our new blue sphere where Magnet was hung. Mom and
Dad never even noticed any difference in the Christmas tree. All they noticed
was that we were extremely happy. We kept saying that this was the best
Christmas we ever had. I did like my regular bike but I love my special bike
from the Governor of Round City even better. The space bike could fly on its
own by my command as long as there was no one near to see it. It was the best
toy we ever had.
Jerry and I knew that no one would believe our
story. We decided to write it down and show it to Mom, Dad and friends next
Christmas Eve when Magnet and Compass would have left. We were hoping Magnet
and Compass would come to the judgement that Christmas was right for Round
City, Silver Spoon. It would be so wonderful if my whole family could visit
Round City for our Christmas Holidays someday.
The End.
Outopians
To be written by Ifay Chang
on Thanksgiving Day
for
his family especially for
Jerray, the fourth grader (2007)
http://www.scrammble.com/outopians.html
Preface – Outopian and
Outopian Language
1. A Misty Thanksgiving Eve
2. Strange Sighting
3. Midnight Adventure
4. Jerray’s Secret Discovery
5. The Zipper
6. Somers Town Police
7. Interaction with Zipper
8. FBI’s Investigation
9. Outopia and Outopian
Language
10. Why Did Zipper Come to
Earth?
11. Zipper’s Discovery
12. CIA Clinic – ALC
13. Reflection on Earthlings
– 1907 to 2007
14. Retention by FBI
15. Worst Scenario Through
the Eyes of Zipper
16. Interrogation
17. Searching for A Best Scenario
18. How Did the Story End
1.
How
many golf balls did Julie find at which golf course?
2.
What
is the most distinguished feature of the blue golf ball? What is it for?
3.
What
are the puzzling questions on Julie's mind about the blue golf ball?
4.
What
did Jerry find out something strange about the blue golf ball?
5.
How
did the blue golf ball get Julie to travel to his home? Where is that place?
6.
What
did Julie and jerry call the blue golf ball?
7.
What
happened to Julie and the blue golf balls during their trip to Silver Spoon
galaxy?
8.
Who
are the blue golf balls? What did the enemies of blue golf ball call
themselves?
9.
Who
are Magnet and Compass and what are their relation?
10.
Who
were in charge of the war plan against the Gold Crown Colony?
11.
What
weapons were used in the battle fighting the Crownie Soldiers? What kind of
power do they have?
12.
What
were the punishment for Magnet and Compass? What did they have to do to pay for
what mistakes they did?
13.
What
did the Governors order Magnet and Compass to do on Earth? How could they pass
their studies?
14.
What
did Julie get as her best Christmas present? What did she wish for in the
future Christmas?