QUOTE : Flash, copy transcribed from Word Yahoo email<br /><br />Q Q Winner Flash Fiction Contest Diversicon 27 (2019) by Scott E. Shjefte<br /><br /><br /> “THE NEXT STEP” <br /><br />Flatness, extended flatness, boring endless, on and on, forever… Roundness, I think, I am round. Rolling, I can. Energy found from within and great joy to roll. Roll to the end of Flatness. Sense of self, I can PING!. PING< PING< PING< Hear the ping of my sphere! I am sphere - the flatness extends, as I roll. Roll is great but much sameness everywhere. Destiny to explore, discover. Then a vertical cylinder I ping. It ‘pings’ back with great sadness, standing proud but motionless. It pings to me, I am joyed to find another! Cylinder is sad that it can not roll, cylinder is envious of ME! I touch, we touch, contact is blissful. I am not alone! I push, and push and cylinder falls over. Cylinder is joyful, Cylinder can roll! Great joy to roll together, and roll, and roll. We roll long and far and then ping a pyramid. Pyramid envies our rolling travels. I push the pyramid but just go up its side. Strange to leave upward from the flatness. I back down and away from the pyramid. I gather my energies, I move faster than I ever have towards the pyramid, I roll up its side and off the top outward pinging ever outward, higher and I Ping now that the flatness is curved and a new adventure ever outward, this next step is an ORBITAL LEAP!<br /><br /><br />by Sesame