Shatter

In our game,
there is a paddle
and there are three balls,
which bounce not in a perfect array
but one which shifts
erratic,
tumultuous,
chaotic.

And the balls must come home to the paddle.

The advantage to having three
is that while they may not always
coexist harmoniously
The player receives more Points
As long as they all stay.

If one is lost, then Points,
the lifeblood and ultimate goal of the game
accrue slower.
Still, there is a kind of harmony:
an ease of play.

So if one bounces off the other two
Not out of
Malice
Sin or
Spite
but because, like the others,
it needed to bounce,
They will likely refuse him
It's hard for three to come home
To one space
So two may take the same angle
Form a twisted strand
of DNA
While the other remains on the outside

In a dire situation, the paddle
will always choose the two over the one
More Points that way.

Maintaining one is easier still than two
for a time.
But eventually that one will move faster
and faster
until, panicked and desperate, it loses control

And then there will be no paddle
To come home to.