Echo Sphere story
Cole catches fireflies at his grandparent’s Russ and Klara’s yard. The next day, Russ takes Cole to an old Loop project, a huge rusting “echo sphere.” Russ informs Cole, George, and Klara that his doctor has predicted he does not have long to live. At the Loop, Russ tells Loretta that he is putting her in charge of the Loop and she accepts. Russ takes Cole on a drive for one last teachable moment. Russ arrives home and makes a foreshadowing comment to Klara. He goes to the bedroom and collapses. Jakob informs Cole that their grandfather is in the hospital. Determined that the Loop can save Russ, Cole breaks into the underground complex, but gets caught by Loretta as he’s about to touch the mysterious sphere at the heart of the Loop. After initially hesitating, George takes Cole to see Russ in the hospital. Russ is delusional, which shocks Cole. Later at the hospital, Russ, in his final moments, dreams of merging with the underground sphere. Cole returns to the echo sphere alone. He shouts into it again, and with each echo, he envisions the decades of his life passing by. Finally, he sees the sphere filled with fireflies.
11 total · 2 choice · 3 major · 6 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| coping with a terminal illness | choice | The story regards Russ and others' coming to terms with the fact that Russ was terminally ill with very little time left. |
| coping with the death of a family member | choice | The story regards Russ and others' coming to terms with the fact that Russ was terminally ill with very little time left. |
| children learning about death | major | Russ struggled to convey to break the news to Cole that Russ was going to die soon. George had troubled consoling Cole when they visited Russ on his deathbed. |
| grandfather and grandson | major | The story follows the boy Cole as he goes through losing his beloved grandfather, Russ. |
| speculative prediction of the future | major | The title refers to a phenomenon that was at the center, albeit not very important per se, of the story: a sphere that predicted how much time one had left to live. |
| brother and brother | minor | Jakob alerted his kid brother, Cole, to the fact that their grandfather had been taken to the hospital. |
| coming to terms with one's own death | minor | Russ immediately came to accept that he was doing to die even before his physician called him to break the bad news. |
| father and daughter | minor | Russ apologized to his daughter, Loretta, for having neglected to attend her wedding. |
| father and son | minor | Russ and his son George. George and his young son Cole. |
| husband and wife | minor | Russ and Klara. |