“Don’t let it touch the water!”

Giggling, the boys chased the ball, bouncing it off of upraised hands.

“I got it! I got it!”

“No, don’t catch it! You gotta keep it in the air!”

One shirtless kid pushed past the others and dug under the ball, volleyball-style, sending it spinning into the air.

“We gotta get it to dry land!”

“I got it! I got it!”

Bounce. The boy’s open palms sent the ball flying in a different direction – the wrong direction.

“No! Sam, get it!”

“I got it! I got it!”

The boy’s splashing sent shining droplets in all directions. One of them alighted on the sphere, which turned from a dull red to a bright yellow.

“Quick! Over here!”

“I can’t get to it in time!”

The yellow ball hit the surface of the water.

The top of the mushroom cloud was visible for sixty miles.