Is it just a gold ball?

Recently, hubby took me out to lunch at the Sherwood Inn in beautiful Skaneateles, NY.  It's a picturesque little village on the shores of Skaneateles Lake.  Although it was a dull, gray day, we still had a good time, and a lovely meal.  (I had the wonderful potato-leek soup, and then the ham, swiss cheese and leek quiche.  Divine!)

While wandering around the village, we visited the local bookstore (all the books were face out.  Hmmm), were disappointed to see that the ice cream shop was gone, as was the Christmas store (unless they moved way down the block).  But the little thrift shop in the basement of a huge old home (now a real estate office) was still there, and of course I had to buy something.  In fact, I bought three things.  The first two were Syracuse China (restaurant china) soup cups.  And as I was waiting to check out, something else caught my eye.

A gold ball.

I don't know what made me grab it.  Maybe it was the price:  $1.25.  I'd considered buying witch balls before, but was always put off by the expensive (to this junker--$10+) prices.  So when I saw this little beauty, I just had to have it.

Later that evening, we were watching Star Trek Voyager.  A very nasty virus had contaminated the ship and Captain Janeway stripped down to her skivvies and was blasting them with a phaser rifle.  (Go, Kathryn!)

While we were watching, I'd taken the gold ball out of the bag and was rolling it around on the couch (which is a bit difficult as it's weighted--probably so it doesn't roll away).  Captain Janeway had just blasted one of the aliens when hubby says:  "I'll bet there's an alien squirreled away in that gold ball."

Oh, dear. My lovely new toy might be a sinister death trap.

Suddenly I had a terrible decision to make:  should I toss it in the trash and hope that when the aliens emerged they'd do it at the landfill, or should I be brave and hope to battle it out with them myself--sans phaser rifle.
Instead, I put it on my shelf and admire it's beauty whenever I walk by.

(But I'm still watching--just in case it does explode with a bunch of alien critters bent on destruction.  Can't be too careful, you know.)