Jane was terribly upset. Dick was supposed to have picked her up at 8:30 and it was already past 9.

“Grr! Men! Why can’t they be prompt?”, she thought.

She sighed and spoke low to herself as she eyed the back of her hand, “And I paid a lot to get my nails done, too; like he would notice.”

As she waited by the curb, a small dog barked at her through the home’s picture window.

“Oh, Spot…I will be back to play with you later tonight!”

A late-model SUV pulls up and screeches to a halt. The passenger-side automatic window rolls down next to her.

“Get in, baby.”, Dick said, smiling.

“You could have at least opened the door for me.”, she flung the door open. “DICK! Aren’t you going to move all these soda cups in the seat?! You are no gentleman and you are such a pig.”

As they drove to the movie, Dick veers off the main road to take a shortcut. The vehicle comes to a sudden halt, and Jane leans quickly to Dick’s arm, clutching it. “Dick, what IS that thing in the middle of the road?!”

Dick’s mouth was open in wonder, as well, but he began to study what was in front of them, and he started to speak slowly to her in reply…

“Well, Jane, it appears to be…a ball.”

“What kind of ball, Dick?”

“A red ball, Jane.”

“What’s the red ball doing, Dick?”

“I see the red ball, Jane. I see it rolling.”

“What else, Dick, what else? Help me understand!”

“See the red ball. See the rolling red ball. See the red ball rolling…TOWARDS US!”

The SUV backs up and speeds away in the other direction.