But to my dismay, Sparky growled at the ball and backed away. I picked it up and held it out to him, “It’s ok Sparky, it’s just your ball.”

Sparky’s ears went down and the hair on his back rose. He was now barking and showing his teeth. I held the ball in front of my face and examined it. It looked the same as before, but suddenly it began getting cold, then colder. I was tossing it from hand to hand it was so cold.

I yanked open the door to the basement, and flung the ball down the stairs.
I slammed the door, and even through the door I could hear the ball ricocheting around the basement. After it quieted, I put my ear to the door. Suddenly the crashing began. The sounds of glass breaking, and metal upon metal, chairs scooting around the concrete floor. Not again I thought.
Another fine mess to clean up.

Once again it grew quiet; I opened the door and descended the stairs very slowly, and much to my surprise… and relief. The basement was pristine, nothing broken, nothing moved.