They evolved rapidly, but, because they lived on the surface of a tennis ball, they never developed science. With each stroke of a player's racket, and each bounce on the court, their home world was subjected to drastic changes in velocity, acceleration, and spin. These changes made it appear that the universe was not subject to any definite physical laws. Even astronomy was impossible; the heavens wheeled about too unpredictably. They felt totally at the mercy of capricious gods. Their religious ceremonies, by which they tried to propitiate those gods, were complex and beautiful.
All their theology couldn't help them when disaster struck their world. A player, off balance, struck a high, erratic lob. The tennis ball drifted over the fence around the court, bounced once on the path outside, and landed in the Hudson River, where it drifted awhile (as most of the population drowned) and eventually sank (killing the remnant).
Copyright 1992 Edward Gaillard. All rights reserved.