Rob thought he was simply throwing his frisbee. The Wind had other plans, and somewhere beneath an apple tree, Isaac Newton was about to discover something that did not fall at all.

Rob loved throwing his frisbee. On windy days, he would launch it high into the bright blue sky and watch it glide across the park before racing to catch it.

Throw. Catch. Throw. Catch.

Every throw was a little different.

One afternoon, Rob threw his frisbee higher than ever before. It climbed into the sky, floated on the breeze, and gently drifted back toward him.

He caught it with a smile, then looked up.

“I don’t get it,” he said. “If gravity is always pulling things down… why doesn’t my frisbee fall right away?”

Almost as if it had been waiting for that question, the Wind began to stir. Leaves danced across the grass, the trees whispered, and the frisbee lifted gently from Rob’s hand.

Rob smiled. “Here we go.”

The Wind carried him away.

When the Wind settled, Rob found himself standing in a quiet English orchard. Apple trees stretched in every direction, and beneath one of them sat a man completely lost in thought.

Not wanting to interrupt him, Rob quietly tossed his frisbee into the air.

Throw. Catch. Throw. Catch.

The man looked up, his eyes following the strange flying object.

Another throw. Another catch.

Rob noticed him watching, and they smiled at one another.

Rob gave a small nod and gently tossed the frisbee toward him. The man instinctively reached out.

He fumbled…

…but caught it against his chest.

He stared at it, turned it over, and traced a finger around the edge. He looked through the middle and balanced it on one finger.

Then…

he carefully placed it on his head.

“It appears to be… an exceptionally poor hat.”

Rob burst into laughter, and the man couldn’t help but smile.

“We call it a frisbee,” Rob said.

The man turned it over once more. He studied the smooth edge, the curved shape, and the flat top, then nodded thoughtfully.

“Curious…”

Another long pause.

“It resembles a remarkably flat ball.”

Rob laughed even harder.

The man smiled and held out the frisbee. “Isaac Newton.”

Rob took the frisbee back and shook his hand. “I’m Rob.”

Newton watched as Rob casually spun the frisbee in his hand, then asked, “Does it always fly like that?”

Rob smiled. “Sometimes even better.”

Newton bent down and picked up an apple. Without saying a word, he tossed it into the air once, twice, then a third time before simply letting it go.

Both of them watched it fall.

Newton picked it up again. “Everything returns to Earth.”

Rob held up his frisbee. “Even this?”

Newton smiled.

“Shall we try?”

Newton held the apple out in front of him. “Watch.”

He opened his hand.

Thump.

“There.”

Rob nodded. “It fell.”

“It did.”

Rob smiled. “But that’s not why I asked.”

He took a few steps back. “Watch this.”

With one smooth motion, Rob launched the frisbee high into the sky.

Newton followed it with his eyes.

Higher. Higher still.

The breeze caught it, and it floated across the orchard. It curved, then, almost as if it had made up its mind…

it turned.

Back toward Rob.

Rob reached up…

…and caught it cleanly with one hand.

Newton blinked. For a long moment, he simply stared.

Finally, he whispered, “Curious…”

He looked from the frisbee to Rob, then back to the sky.

“It returned to where it began.”

Rob smiled. “It usually does.”

Just then, a single leaf drifted from the tree above them. Neither of them moved. They simply watched.

The leaf twirled, spun, and drifted on the breeze. For a moment, it almost seemed to dance.

It landed beside the apple.

Newton walked over and looked at the apple, then the leaf, then the frisbee.

A smile appeared.

“They all returned…”

Another thoughtful pause.

“…but each followed a different path.”

Rob looked around the orchard. He noticed the breeze moving through the branches, birds gliding overhead, leaves dancing in the sunlight, and his frisbee resting quietly in his hand.

For the first time, Rob realized he wasn’t simply watching the world anymore.

He was paying attention.

He was noticing familiar things as though he were seeing them for the first time.

As the afternoon faded into evening, Rob and Newton sat beneath the apple tree. The orchard had become quiet.

For a long while, neither of them spoke. Finally, Rob broke the silence.

“When did you start asking questions like this?”

Newton watched another leaf drift gently from the tree. A small smile appeared.

“I never stopped.”

Rob smiled too.

Neither of them said another word. They didn’t need to.

As the first stars appeared, Rob looked up at the Moon.

Then he turned toward Newton.

“If everything returns to Earth…”

“…why doesn’t the Moon fall?”

Newton looked at Rob, then up at the Moon. A gentle smile spread across his face.

He didn’t answer.

The Wind began to move through the branches once more, and leaves danced across the orchard

Rob stood. “I think I’ll have to come back.”

The Wind caught his frisbee, and the orchard slowly disappeared.

Rob looked back at the Moon.

The question stayed with him all the way home.