I want you to imagine.

A Story by dustin kenton modersohn stockdale

Sometimes we feel amazing, sometimes we don't. I'm just writing how I feel right now.

You're holding a ball of glass that can barely fit in both of your hands. At first it has no feeling, but you can see it there. But then it comes alive. It's extremely light, and you can definitely feel that it's there. It begins to warm your hands, while glowing a subtle red. It feels as if you're holding a mug of hot chocolate on a wintery day. Your whole body feels warm.

The ball continues to grow warmer, and glow stronger. It starts to light up the room you're in a little bit, casting small shadows wherever there is something in the way. It begins to feel even nicer. You hold it to your heart and smile as you close your eyes. Everything is perfect now.

It feels like you're holding a beautiful small child into your chest. The warmth spreads throughout your body. You feel ecstasy.

The ball begins to get uncomfortably hot in your hands. You open your eyes and the ball is glowing so bright that you have to squint. You want to let go of the ball but your hands won't let you. It starts burning your hands. You close your eyes because the ball is glowing too brightly. You still can't let go. You can smell burnt flesh as your hand begin to smoke. You can't pull them apart.

You finally rip your hands apart and the ball falls to the floor. It shatters into a million pieces. The whole room is now red, dark, and hot. The shards of glass seem to explode around you. Your feet are cut by a lot of pieces, and your legs are only cut by a few. The warmth of the room emphasizes the pain of your wounds.

Hours later you wake up lying on the floor. The glass shards look like diamonds, spread around the floor. Your wounds are gone. You reach out and pick up a handful of glass diamonds. They fall like silk through your hands. Suddenly the glass begins to recollect. As you sit up you notice the glass shards are slowly recreating an imperfect glass ball in front of you.

You stand up with the deformed ball at your feet. You're afraid that it could explode again at any moment. But it doesn't. In the blink of an eye it becomes the ball you had picked up hours ago.

You're left with a choice...