Free Balance by Kurt Bartling

yellow glowing ball arc in the distance and race toward him, h e leaps , spinning, as the ball soar s past .
    H e lands back on the beam , taking two steps before jumping up toward a nother small square surface , several feet away.  Landing with one foot on the pedestal , he t wist s his body completely around , at the same time , he catch es the arc of another glowing ball appear in the distance , on a trajectory to ward him.
    His second foot, suspended out away from the floating surface, instinctively kicks forward and up, as the leg supporting his weight on the pedestal pushes his body up into the air.
    H e tips his head back and identifies the landing spot , crunching his mid-section, pulling his knees into his body, performing a tucked flip in the air as the glowing orb passes below his head.
    Another orb appears out of the distance.
    Mid-flip, h e rotates his center of gravity, causing his body to c orkscrew .  T he orb races past , just behind h is back.
    Landing on both feet facing forward , his legs bend to absorb the impact.  Channeling the momentum of the aerial to continue through his center of gravity, Michael launches himself hard off the surface with both legs .  The upward force of his legs coupled with the momentum of the previous aerial, propels his body into a diving leap .
    Another orb from in front of him arcs and speeds at his position .  Midway through the leap , he tucks his body into a b all , generating rotation, passing above the ball.  Maintaining his tucked form , he rolls along a long length of surface, feeling it pass twice along his spine.  Afte r the second pass , Michael performs a handspring to a standing position at the center of the beam .
    Again directing his momentum, h e takes several long strides along the beam , then jump-skips across fifteen floating surfaces of varying elevation , bounding from pedestal to pedestal , never changing speed, all the while avoiding a salvo of glowing orbs racing to ward him from every direction.
    Continuing onto a long surface, accelerating to a full sprint, he leap s off the far end into a tucked side-spin, allowing a ball to pass beneath him. L and ing full stride onto another long glowing surface, he repeat s t he side-spin off the end , avoiding two more balls, the first past his fac e, the second behind his back.
    He lands with both feet on the square pedestal at the far corner of the course illuminated by the glowing red light .  T urn ing , lowering his body into a crouch, Michael scan s the course.  H is heart beating like a drum , he prepares to pounce like a predator at the reemergence of the light.
    It never appears.
    Michael relaxes , his surrounding s fad ing back into existence.   He immediately locates Rena, standing next to Takada, her mouth open and eyes wide, unmoving, looking as though she just witnessed an explosion in the distance. Michael’s sur roundings come fully into focus, t he explosion witnessed by most in attendance .
    He jumps down from the pedestal , t he crowd erupting in celebration .  Returning to Takada and Rena’s location, he overhears several exclamations , mostly questioning the reality of what they’d just witnessed.   Takada , smiling, congratulates him on an inspiring display .
    Shifting his attention, Michael watches Rena regain her composure only to appear to be come engrossed in deep thought, looking right through him .
    “Well my dear, I am afraid I underestimated the daunting task it would be to follow Michael on the course today .  If you feel uncomfortable, I can have this test rescheduled.” Takada offers .
    Rena refocuses , “Excuse me?”
    “I can reschedule this test, if you ’d like.” Takada restates , sympathetically .
    Michael watches Rena’s expression shift in slow motion, going from polite indifference to a steely contained anger.
    “Hell No!” she snaps .
    Removing her j acket, tossing it at Michael, she walks to t he beginning of the course, performing some stretching