I often daydream. Indeed, as I have matured this pastime has become more regular, extended, and bizarre – culminating in forgetting to do stuff I had promised to do; for example, turning the oven on for dinner, putting the bins out or making that call.
Laying on the beach without the same domestic pressures bearing down on me daydreaming becomes even more peculiar. With the sound of the ebb and flow of the surf and the distant shrill of a beach vendor shouting out repeatedly, “Bier, wasser, doughnuts,” my thoughts wandered somewhat haphazardly to my schooldays and a challenge that as a kid I’d always had a begrudging respect for, even though it had been set by a teacher who had a bastard of a reputation.
His speciality in combatting any school-based misdemeanour was legendary. To him detention was derisory, and lines were laughable. He was crueller and more callous than that. A classmate of mine, having overstepped the mark, met a truly remarkable punishment that popped back into my head many decades later and reignited the desire to establish if I could meet the ghastly goal set by Mr R – my most respected science teacher.
“In no less than a hundred words describe the inside of a ping pong ball.”
So here goes, with the following assumptions:
1. The ball is a standard ping pong design.
2. It’s in natural light.
3. An ambient room temperature of 18 degrees centigrade exists.
4. It’s stationary on a level surface.
5. I am inside said ball, miniaturised – after all it was an exercise in conjecture too.
Inside it would be dim, due to the white surface reflecting the surrounding light giving my tomb a densely claustrophobic feel. With my eyes adjusting to the lack of light my other senses would be heightened, and with nothing inside (save me) to absorb any sounds, both internally and externally, audible signals would be amplified, perhaps even deafening. I would be alone and no doubt frightened, especially with no obvious means of escape.
My air supply would be limited and any shouts for help would probably just be reflected back from the curved shell. If I moved this would disrupt the current status quo, causing the ball to roll to who knows where and to what impending doom? This was truly the stuff of nightmares!
And there you have it – in 125 words!
I did it! But at what cost?
Mr R, you still scare the shit out of me, but then again, I would never have obtained ‘O’ levels in Physics and Chemistry!
© Ian Kirke 2021
Title photograph by Taylor Wilcox on Unsplash