it's all about balance

The dragonfly abruptly pulled a small top from a pocket no one had noticed, and with a gloved hand gave it a hard spin as he dropped it onto a flat-topped rock.

"It's all about balance!" he said and squinted his unblinking eyes. Suzy startled as she thought she saw eddies swirling every which way, like galaxies, in the molten globes of his eyes, making her dizzy and feel like she was falling. Oooh - she hated that feeling!

The top, still spinning, caught her attention as its silver point traced a delicate path on the rock, skipping slightly here and there, but always graceful, and it was going forever! It was different than the top she got for Christmas when she was four, a bit battered now but still in the toy box. You know, the kind with a pump-top and circus horses around the outside. Her brother got one too, but it was dumb gorillas and landed in the trash long ago, after he left it in the driveway. Man, was Daddy mad when it popped his brand new tire!

But this one was different: sleek, heavy, gun-metal blue and sharp edged. It didn't exactly look like a toy.

Balance! He said again, jerking her attention back as he shivered his whole body and rattled like a dry gourd. He crooked a finger and tapped Becky on the crown of her head. Everyone stared as Becky sat up straight, then seemed to turn liquid and snaked like a rope, her pieces dangled like beads on an invisible string that the dragonfly swirled gently in a small circle. "Balance!" he said again as Becky spiraled. When she relaxed and started giggling, the Dragonfly set her gently back on the ground beside the others, who were giggling too, but a bit nervously, looking back and forth between themselves. Becky just wiggled and smiled, real shy-like, as she stared in a dreamy way into the deep, ruby-red eyes of the dragonfly.