Hanley was a twenty-six year old guy. He worked as a shopkeeper in the local store and on the whole, his life was okay.
One day, Hanley got home from a long Saturday's work and switched on the television. To Hanley's surprise the television didn't show anything but a black screen, and a little dot in the middle. He got up to see what was going on and was amazed by what he saw. The little dot on the screen was... behind the glass! In fact, there was no glass on the TV at all, and the little dot was about a foot back from the front of the screen. By curiosity, Hanley reached through the now-three-dimensional screen...
and his hand went through. He grabbed the dot and pulled it out. Suddenly, the television turned on and the commercials began. So, Hanley simply turned the television off and headed to his room to see what this was.
The dot - or now as Hanley could see, was, in reality, a sphere - was very small; about half an inch in diameter all the way round. Hanley set the sphere onto his bed, and lost himself in thought. He picked it up and decided to try some things.
First, he tried putting it in his mouth, but he instantly took it back out - it tasted of rusty metal, which was unexpected because it felt like a piece of soft, smooth white plastic.
Secondly, he tried holding it to the light - but he almost burned himself because of the heat that the sphere was absorbing quickly.
Only was it the third time he tried when something happened. He filled up his kitchen basin with cold water and placed the sphere in. At first, nothing happened, but after about five seconds there was a blinding light and Hanley covered his eyes with his hands. When the light finally died down, he opened his eyes and looked at the sphere. He picked it up in his hands but it slipped out because of its wetness and rolled under the cupboards. After a minute of painful searching, Hanley finally found the sphere again and held it in his hands, now dry.
Suddenly, the sphere grew to about three inches in diameter. Hanley's jaw dropped as this happened - how could that happen? How could a sphere come out of a television screen in the first place? Confused, Hanley walked back to his bedroom and decided to sleep. But, as a slight insomniac, he had a little bit of a restless night and finally turned his bedside lamp on in frustration. He sat up and picked up the sphere from his bedside table and tossed it from hand to hand, desperately wanting something entertaining. On that thought, the sphere suddenly floated up into the air and onto the ceiling. Hanley stood up and put the sphere back into his hands. Strange how... he was entertained, as soon as he wanted entertainment...
Then he realised what it was doing - exactly what he wanted it to do. It grew in size so that it couldn't roll under any more cupboards, it floated so he could have something to do... and now he could make it do anything.
He asked it to become red. It did. Yellow. Yes. Green. It worked. Purple, orange, and pink? The colours spiralled around beautifully, here, there, everywhere.
Then Hanley got an idea.
"I want you to give me a good sleep," he said quietly, and the sphere then floated back onto the bedside table. Hanley started to get sleepy... yawning... groaning... snoring as he dropped into a deep, deep sleep with ease.
He woke up in the morning, and then remembered that it was Sunday, not Monday, and he still had time to himself. He then remembered that he still had the sphere to do what he wanted with. He eyed it from his bed and stood up. He tried to pick it up... but it started to... melt? Yes, it was definitely melting in his hands... melting in his hands... melting in his hands... melting... into... his... hands. Wait, INTO his hands? The liquid was seeping into his skin! Hanley quickly went to the sink to wash it off but it was too late. The liquid had disappeared into his body.
But did it still have its powers?
Hanley wished it to become a bright red... and his whole layer of skin became a rich, deep, vivid red.