Guppy was a born story teller. But today he chose to narrate a real life incident.

All the Puppies made a ring round the 200 watt electricity bulb – and sat wagging their Skoda car keys.

“Once, not too long ago,” Guppy began the story, “earth suddenly start to rotate in the opposite direction”.

“What are opposites ? asked one young puppy with all his yuppie-like impish ignorance.

“ Opposites are those that meet at a far-off railway junction !” announced Guppy, who had been, quite frankly, taken a back !
He had never thought of this before; and had to suddenly come up with a convincing answer.

“Oh!” replied the convinced puppy.

“Well, because the earth was not rotating in a direction, which we know to be as opposite of the opposite direction, the gravity, too started working in the opposite direction. Things would fly-off the ground unless held tightly with some force” Guppy continued his non-fiction .

“What kind of force ?” asked another puppy.

“Let us say, something like a courage of conviction !” replied Guppy, who was equal to this query.

“ Come on, Guppy! Don’t you start your yarn-spinning ! remember, today you have promised to stick to pure non-fiction “ sang a chorus of Skoda car keys.

“OK,OK, the force like what a train applies to stop, at the sight of another train coming head-on !But please do not interrupt like this ! You shall miss the chance to listen to this greatest of true stories... if I lose my desire to tell you !” Guppy admonished the group of puppies.

“ This opposite-of-gravity was so strong that for the first time, people had to really sit down and think hard . But the people of earth are very capable of thinking, as you all know! So they thought up all the answers and tied down everything! Earth was teeming with the men of science – and they had secretly waited for a long time for such an eventuality to occur. They were more than equal to the challenge. They tied down everything, as I have said a moment ago! The opposite of gravity was failing, in a way, in its design, whatever that was!”

“Did this opposite of gravity eventually fail ?” asked the same impish puppy who had, only that day, learnt the meaning of opposites.

“Well, almost. But there was one issue that had foxed the men of science. They could not figure out how to ensure the playing of games. Every time a player would hit the ball , it would fly off. And if the ball was tied down, then it would be tied down, once and for all. How the ball games would be possible ?”

Guppy was fully aware that the puppies were now fully hooked.

He took a breather... Puppies were waiting anxiously...skoda keys had stopped wagging !!

“Let us abandon the concept of games all together ! announced the world council of men of science. We wont die if we do not see a ball bouncing ? Instead, they proposed that the council be given enough funds that would enable them to do some real-time research on new types of no-ball games"

“Did everyone agree ? Were they given more funds ?” asked one awe-struck puppy.

“They had no choice ! And the men of science collected a huge sum in the bargain !”

“Did these men of science come out with any meaningful finding ? Were some no-ball games invented ?”

“ Oh ! plenty of them !” sighed Guppy..

“Why do you sigh, dear Guppy ? is your tale over ?”

“ No, no! Not by a fat chance !” Guppy was strangely rejuvenated by this question. All of a sudden, he was tempted to tap from his vast resources of fiction and give a dramatic twist to the story. But something stopped him from doing so.

“then one day a guy called Nosey, who was known to be always nosing around, had a brain-wave. He thought: if the ball flies off, then it must be going somewhere. It must eventually strike somewhere and bounce back! How he thought of this is not known to anyone. But a ball is a ball is a ball!

“So surely, Nosey hit a ball very hard. The ball flew, had been gone for a long time, and eventually hit something and bounced back on earth !”

“Hurray” shouted the key chains. “ Since that day earthlings are playing a new game called space ball. And the men of science have requested further funds to conduct more research on the opposite of gravity ! (Guppy ends the narrative…. puppies reluctantly gather their Skoda car keys and leave…and in the distant space a new ball prepares to strike the earth !)