A Kinetically Charged Tale by Loquacious Jango

Polly Evans stormed into her apartment, slamming the door shut behind her and proceeding to pace up and down the small space, fuming up to high heavens.
"Damn him, how the hell could he!" she ranted through gritted teeth. "What possessed that asshole to try and sit down to talk after what he pulled?!"

Polly would have preferred it if her as of recently ex-boyfriend had just bailed in the night, or popped up at the grocery store with his arm around some bimbo. Anything that would have just allowed her to sit down and be furious at him for being a dumb MAN would have been better than getting called up a week after the break up and invited for coffee.
Polly had promised herself that no matter what he said, no matter how hard he begged, she wouldn't take Arthur back. He had made his choice and he had to live with it. She was ready for any kind of cheap little ploy he would try to pull. Anything but what actually happened.
First was the apology. Storming out in the middle of that dinner had been, in his own words, kind of a dick move. But it had gone downhill after that. Not only did he have the audacity to imply that the entire failure of their relationship was Polly's fault, but that smug, articulate prick had been absolutely right.

"I can't think of a single day when you ever wholeheartedly trusted me" He had said between sips of his latte. "You were always suspecting me of something or other, then trying to get me to either tell you what I was planning or outright blackmailing me to keep me from leaving the house"
At first, Polly spent their meet up looking for an opportunity to yell at him, anything to vent the frustration of her week. But as he kept talking, she started to listen.
"What we had wasn't a relationship" He finally admitted "It's a much my fault for dragging this out as long as I did and for that, I apologize again. We were nothing but two people holding each other's heads underwater, motivated by nothing but spite and a twisted game of one-upsmanship." Art looked at the swirling dark liquid in his coffee cup. "Once I finally got some fresh air in my lungs, I realized I didn't like what I was seeing. I'm not sure whether you genuinely enjoyed it or not, but the relationship just wasn't GOOD for me. I had to break the cycle, so I cut loose."
Polly glared back at him, too angry and humiliated to speak.
"I think this is it. I'll send my pal Ian for my stuff. I doubt you know him. You don't know any of my friends" And with that, he was gone, out of her life. But of course that ass had to pay for the cheque first.





"I'm a horrible person" Polly muttered, her knees drawn under her chin, clad in only her pajamas. It was two days later and the recently single young lady was taking council with her closest friend.
"You're not a horrible person" Rebecca said reassuringly "You're just possessive, manipulative, entitled and overly conniving"
Polly offered a withering look in response.
"Relax, I'm a lawyer, remember?" Becky grinned "I've met plenty of people that would count those among their good qualities"
Polly turned to face her, a tired grin on her face. "Would it kill you to say some NICE things about me?"
Rebecca leaped from her seat on the living room's folding bed with a smile "I'm also a prosecutor. Saying nice things about people isn't in my job description" She bounded towards the kitchen before glancing back at her friend "Gonna fix myself some coffee. Want anything?"
Polly shook her head "Agreeing to stay with me for a few days is kindness enough. This high-rise is too empty and I really don't want to be alone with my thoughts"
"Anything for you, babe."  Becky called back.

"At least I haven't screwed up my relationship with HER yet" Polly thought to herself. "Is it just men? No, that isn't it. Roger's been a pal for years and he can still stand to look at me. I suppose I'm just too demanding when it comes to relationships. I'm always trying to control my life too much"
"Hey!" Becky called from the kitchen "Do you own many leather jackets"
"No" Polly called back "But Art did. I guess his buddies must have forgotten it when they were moving all of his stuff out of here"
Becky carried the article of clothing with her back into the living room. "Wanna burn it or something?"
Polly chuckled ruefully "doesn't that count as arson? Besides, I'm trying out a new attitude today, and new Polly doesn't engage in impulsive acts of spite."
"Shame" Rebecca shrugged, shaking the jacket. "It's a little bit heavy, maybe there's something-"
As if on cue, a thin metal cylinder, the size of a small water bottle, tumbled out of one of the jacket's pockets and hit the ground with a thud, missing Becky's toes by inches. She stepped back with a yelp.
Polly stepped off of the bed and picked up the strange container. What was once written on the side had faded slightly leaving only the letters "A__lg_tec_" visible on one side and "Recre_ti__al Poly__r Comp___d" on the other, sharing space with a sizable dent left by the fall.  Rebecca read the text over her friend's shoulder and remarked when she spotted a fragment of her name.
"Hey, maybe it was meant for you!" she pointed out.
Polly winced "Hardly. It's probably just something he brought home from that nightmare factory where he works. I swear, the stuff that he told me about that place…" She took the container from her friend, absently twisting the lid off, then committing effort to the task when it wouldn't come free.
"Are you sure that you should be opening that?" Becky raised an eyebrow.
"They wouldn't let him take it out of that place unless it was safe, right?" Polly grunted, finally wrenching the lid off of the cylinder. Her arms jerked in opposite directions, spilling some of the goop within on her fingers and along the floor.

"Ugh" Polly muttered, wiping the glossy pink mixture off of her hands with a scowl "What the heck is this stuff, nail polish?"
Becky sniffed the puddle on the floor. "Doesn't smell like anything...whatever, do you have a mop?"
Polly rubbed the mysterious compound between her fingers. "Arthur did"
"Wow" said Becky as she slipped on some shoes "That guy really cleaned you out. Well, I'm gonna ask door to door then, maybe talk to the Super"
"I think I'll just have a shower, starting to feel kind of sticky" Polly responded, wiping off the remaining gunk on her pajama bottoms. She made her way over to the bathroom, not bothering to turn on the lights. The small space was well illuminated by the sunshine filtering in from the ceiling to floor window of clouded glass that made up the entire western wall of the lavatory

No sooner had the door to the washroom closed that Polly started to feel queasy. It started in her gut, feeling like she had swallowed a tub of paste, then spreading out to the rest of her body, presented as a numbness in her limbs and a violent headrush. She teetered on her feet, letting out a woozy moan before collapsing onto the toilet. The young woman glanced at her left hand and noticed that the goo had left a nasty red rash on her fingers, a rash which seemed to be spreading across her hands. She watched, entranced, as the pink colour on her palms deepened to a bright, iridescent red. She was distracted by a lurching sensation in her midsection and glanced downwards.

Polly's mouth fell open. Either she had gained 20 pounds in five seconds, or that paste in the thermos had done more to her than she thought. A swollen, rounded gut rested in her lap, looking for all the world like a pregnant belly and feeling as heavy as one too. Polly placed her hands on her still growing bump as it lurched outwards another few inches, accompanied by a gurgling sound that resembled bubbling tar. Her attention returned to her hands as the bright red colouration spread down her wrists and towards her elbows like dripping paint. Polly had no idea what was going on, but she knew she needed help.
"Becky!" she shouted. "Becky, I need you!" She didn't get an answer, Rebecca was still out searching for cleaning supplies. Polly rose to her feet unsteadily; her knees quaking as her gut surged forth again, now approaching the circumference of a small beach ball. The redness had covered her shoulders and neck and was starting to ooze down her chest and crawl onto her cheeks. Polly looked down the collar of her t-shirt, which was starting to ride up her swelling tummy, and saw that her moderate breasts had been affected by the swelling, as red as pomegranates and quickly approaching that size. She was getting more and more worried about what would happen when the red tint of her skin reached the growing lump in her stomach. Her fears were realized when her new scarlet shade crawled past her belly button, which seemed more than a foot away from her. She hiccupped slightly and yelped at a tearing sensation in her abdomen, accompanied by the sensation of something heavy inside of her falling away from her ribcage and towards her waist. On cue, Polly buttocks swelled dramatically and her hips widened significantly, giving her torso a wide, ovoid appearance.

"BECKY!" Polly called again. Still no answer. How long did it take to find a damn mop? Her insides spasmed again as the spherical mass within her grew dramatically in every direction, plumping up her thighs to the size of traffic cones and reducing everything below her now honeydew-sized breasts into a solid sphere. Her pajama bottoms couldn't take the last growth spurt and tore away completely, revealing that Polly's entire body had turned the same bright red. She couldn't even reach past her own hips at this point. As the girl craned her neck to look over her massive belly, she realized that she could see her dim reflection in her own distended skin. Polly rubbed her hand across the shiny, unnaturally smooth surface of her stomach, wondering what in God's name she was turning into. Was she already so taught that her skin had been stretched to a mirror sheen?

Another jolt and another surge of growth told Polly that she still had a long way to go. Her midsection ballooned outwards, thickening her arms into cones and turning everything from her shoulders to halfway down her thighs into a solid ball. This finally ripped through her shirt, exposing her breasts, which had grown into small domes on her chest and were radically shrinking away. Along with her assets, Polly's mobility was being robbed of her, as her arms and legs were getting harder to bend. She teetered on her feet before swiveling to look in the bathroom mirror. What she saw was unrecognizable. A bloated parody of a human being, painted a bright scarlet and given a shiny, rubbery texture. Everything from her hair, which had fused into a solid piece, to her toenails, everything looked like it was made of the same material.
"This can't-" Polly stuttered, desperately trying to wrap her head around her own body. "I'm not…how does…" If she hadn't mentally checked out ages ago, she would have been sobbing out of confusion and fear. She couldn't associate the thing in the mirror with herself; it was as though she was floating above her own body, looking down at it.

Polly teetered from foot to foot as she realized that at this rate, she would outgrow the bathroom. Her entire body seemed to have solidified, so the most movement she could muster was rocking her body weight from foot to foot, slowly making her way towards the door at a wobbling, swaying gate.
"Gotta…get to the door. Gotta…get in the open. Get…help" Polly muttered. The young woman prayed that her waistline didn't exceed the width of the door just yet. A deep bubbling noise signaled another coming growth spurt, causing her to quicken pace. She'd be sweating from the effort, if she still had sweat glands. A foot from the door, Polly's worries were confirmed as she felt pressure on her sides. To her horror, she realized that she was stuck tight between the counter and the far wall. She wiggled her traffic cone legs as much as she could, desperate to make those last few inches. A final shudder and Polly's hopes of escape went the way of her limbs. What was left of her breasts, arms and legs spread across her gravid form, disappearing up to the wrists and ankles. She let out a gasp as her smooth, featureless crotch pushed against the ground, causing the heels of her feet to lift away entirely. Her body had finally fulfilled it's threat and become completely spherical.
"BECKY!" Polly howled at the top of her lungs. "Becky, I need you!"

Growth spurts had given way to a slow, continuous swelling. Polly's feet left the floor entirely, kicking defiantly until her rubbery flesh expanded over them, reducing thrashing toes to a mild wiggle. Soon all she could move of her hands were her fingers and what were once her shoulders surrounded and pressed into her chin and jaw. How much bigger could she possibly get? The barely human girl felt her distant belly button press against the door as her rounded back met the cool glass of the window. She craned her head upwards as the ceiling grew closer. She had filled the entire room.
Polly's eyes widened as she heard a terrifying noise from behind her.
KRK-K-K-KRK-KRK-K-K.
She didn't have to have heard it before to realize it was the sound of cracking glass. The sphere of a woman was outgrowing the bathroom. Now it was only a question of whether she would break through the door or the window first. Expose her bloated form to her friend, or go plummeting 27 stories to her death, neither option seemed preferable.
Polly let out a yelp as she lurched backwards slightly. The fractured window was starting to be forced out of it's frame. The thought of plummeting to an early demise in this form danced through Polly's head. Would she flatten like a pancake when she hit the ground, or just explode like a water balloon? She let out a mournful sob as the window gave way a little more. This wasn't fair. How much horrible shit could happen to one person in the space of a week? Managing to screw up a relationship with a decent guy, blowing up into a giant balloon and then getting shoved out of her window by her own girth.

Some high astral force seemed to take an iota of pity at Polly's despair and as if by divine providence, her growth finally stopped at the same instant that she heard a welcome voice from the next room.
"Polly?" Rebecca's voice wafted in. "What in god's name is going on? I heard you clear down the hall! Are you having a baby in there?"
"I'm in the bathroom!" Polly yelled. She gave off a stress induced hiccup and then blanched as that final spasm through her body dislodged the fractured window pane entirely, exposing a few feet of her backside to the elements. She counted the seconds before she heard a distant, faint crash. Polly was a single shove away from joining the glass on the pavement.
"Well" Rebecca called "Could you finish up and come help me? This stuff is getting…yuck, this stuff is really sticky."
"What?" Polly yelled back as she teetered in the breeze from outside "Tell me you didn't touch that stuff!"
"Look, can you just wash your hands and come out of there?" Becky beckoned.
"I CAN'T!"
Rebecca's voice softened at this "Okay Polly. You CAN leave that bathroom. I know you have it in you to face the world again"
In a slightly less urgent circumstance, Polly would have rolled her eyes. "I'm not depressed dammit! I physically can't leave this room! Come help me!"
"Okay, fine" Rebecca answered "I'm gonna come in and we'll work this out together"
The giant, red ball gave a sigh of exasperation. "Thank you". Then she remembered that it would only take a nudge to send her over the edge. And that the door to the bathroom opened inwards.

"No!" Polly yelled in desperation. "No, stop, don't come in!"
"Come on, you've gotta talk about this" Rebecca responded, shoving the door wide open and her friend out the window.

Absolutely nothing went through Polly's mind as she fell. The idea of screaming, the concept of the ground, the notion of the closing distance between her and the asphalt. All of these thoughts were forced out of the back of the globular girl's skull by the terror of the descent and the sheer velocity of her spherical form as she tumbled end over end straight down. On her third full rotation, Polly would have noticed that the street was mere feet away from her, if she'd been capable of forming a rational thought. She'd hit it in less than a second.
Polly gasped as she struck the ground, the force of the impact flattened one side of her ovoid body slightly and sent a wave of energy through her like an electric shock. She would have thrown up if her digestive system hadn't sealed itself shut long ago. As the wave passed her head, she blacked out.

Polly came to seconds later, awoken by the sensation of wind in her face. Straight above her was only blue sky. She glanced to her left, seeing nothing but a grey blur, the same on her right.
"Wasn't I falling?" She wondered, thoroughly disoriented. "No, I hit the ground. Now I'm…going up. What is…" Polly's senses started to return to her as her ascent slowed, the grayish blur sharpening into the side of a building. Finally, her skyward journey ceased and for a split second, Polly hung in midair, completely weightless. She glanced through the window of the adjacent building and locked eyes with a bewildered maid. The big red ball feebly waved hello before succumbing to gravity once again.
The fall seemed to be shorter this time around, or maybe Polly just had more time to think. She closed her eyes, losing herself in the sensation of the wind rushing against her skin. Then, she felt the same jolt as she hit the ground and opened her eyes with another gasp. The same flattening sensation, the same ripple of energy coursed through her. Her body snapped back into its spherical shape, propelling her back into the sky.
She had just bounced.
And it had been like nothing she'd ever felt before.

The human superball's parabolic trajectory carried her further along Queen Street. She again felt the same floating sensation when her arc reached its peak, before gravity took hold. A quick fall later, She hit the ground for the third time, on her belly this time; eliciting the same shock and gasp of release before being launched skywards by her own elasticity.
Polly should have been terrified. She could think of a thousand things that should be taking precedence in her mind. What would become of her life? Her job? Her mobility? Her humanity? All of these questions didn't seem even remotely important in relation to when she would experience her next bounce. Polly's arcing path carried her straight through the financial district, on to a central free way and out of the city, thudding off the road all the way. Gradually, the height of her bouncing started to lessen as the kinetic energy from her initial plummet started to bleed off. Polly tried to flex her body upon landing in an attempt to increase her altitude, with limited success. Then the road seemed to give way beneath her as she failed to follow a sharp turn in the highway and Polly felt her backside collide with soft, yielding dirt. She ricocheted on an irregular angle, spiraling towards the tree line bordering the side path. Polly grunted as she felt branches and sticks whip at her body. She slammed off of tree trunks, bouncing like a pinball until she finally smashed into the ground, her trip at an end.

Polly's eyes rolled in her sockets, her head swimming. She let out a long, dizzy moan and idly twitched her feet and hands, trying to find purchase despite what remained of her limbs being meters away from the ground. Through the haze of blurred vision, she heard two voices as twin sets of footsteps approached, twigs and fallen branches crunching under their feet.

"Good lord, that thing left a crater" One said aloud.
"What do you think it was, a UFO or something?" The other chimed back.
"What manner of advanced alien race would fire a big red bouncy ball at us?"
"I dunno, the fun kind? For all we know, this could be an  ambassador."

Polly tried to call out, but her tongue didn't seem to work just yet. She slurred out something that could barely be construed as a cry for help.
"I think it's trying to communicate with us!" One of the strangers excitedly said.
Polly heard a slight chuckle. "Nevermind that, this thing has feet. I think we're looking at a person."
A Person. The word spread across the red sphere like a balm. Whatever she had become, this man still considered her an individual, a human being. She felt a fist knock at one of her rubbery sides.
"You ever seen one of these before?" one of the faceless strangers asked.
"You know I have" the other answered. "I think I've got the right people to call on my contacts list"
Polly heard the dialing of a phone as one pair of footsteps faded away, accompanied by their owners voice .
"Yeah, it's Howard. I've got a sphere…Just off of the 401, near Glen road…About ten feet. I think she's female. Yep. Bright red, can't miss it. Helicopter evac it is then"

Polly decided that now was a good time to grab a much needed rest. She felt her consciousness slip away, exhausted from the days ordeal. She had little idea about what was going to happen to her next, but whatever it was; she had the reassuring sensation that she now had no choice but to bounce back.