The 10-minute play is set in a 20-year-old girl’s bedroom and follows a dialogue between two 20-year-old girls, Elizabeth and Melissa, asking several questions to a magic eight ball. The magic eight ball is a spherical toy that is believed to predict the future. Melissa can be described as skeptical, logical, and brutally honest. Melissa is a depiction of the faction of the society that does not follow the social wave but instead employs logic and critical thinking to analyze beliefs before internalizing them as truths, a trait that everyone in the society should adopt.

Melissa is skeptical of the magic ball’s ability to predict the future. She demonstrates this by saying that she is unsure if she should believe the magic ball. Later on, she also asks Elizabeth if she believes that the magic ball can predict if she and James will die together (Pau, Kimberly). She knows the likelihood of the toy predicting the future is slim, so she does not fully believe the ball’s responses. Melissa represents the faction of the society that critically analyzes the validity of a societal belief before accepting it as the final truth. Some societal beliefs are not founded on facts or logic but are founded on superstition and hearsay. While some people follow these beliefs blindly, others like Melissa look at the lack of logic behind these superstitions and choose not to follow them.

Melissa is also logical. She analyzes the magic ball’s responses and concludes that they are incorrect considering the real-world events taking place. She demonstrates this when she asks the magic ball why it is lying to Elizabeth. The magic ball had previously stated that Bradley would propose to Elizabeth. Yet, Melissa knew that Bradley preferred James to Melissa, which is why he did not reply to the sexy photos they had sent earlier (Pau, Kimberly). Melissa had analyzed Bradley’s behavioral patterns and concluded that he was unlikely interested in a long-term commitment.

Melissa is also brutally honest with Elizabeth. She realizes that Elizabeth wholeheartedly believes in the predictions of the magic ball and decides to show her its flawed nature. She asks the magic ball to admit that their boyfriends prefer to have sex with each other, to which the ball replies that it is certain, much to Elizabeth’s dismay (Pau, Kimberly). She also asks the ball if she will fall in love before Elizabeth, to which it replies yes, leading Elizabeth to say that it is broken (Pau, Kimberly). Out of anger, Elizabeth asks the ball if Melissa would feel sad if she flung herself off the roof, to which the ball replies it is very doubtful (Pau, Kimberly). That answer makes Elizabeth realize that the magic ball cannot predict the future because she knows that Melissa will be devastated (Pau, Kimberly). Melissa asks the questions to open up Elizabeth’s mind to realize that the ball cannot predict the future logically. She uses these brutally honest questions to help Elizabeth reason logically.

In conclusion, Melissa depicts the faction of the society that relies on logic when choosing which societal beliefs they want to align to. She shows skepticism and logic during her interaction with Elizabeth and the magic ball, which allows her to critically analyze and discredit the magic ball’s ability to predict the future. She also uses her brutal honesty to demonstrate the magic ball’s inaccuracy to Elizabeth, saving her from a life of ignorance. This honesty creates a conflict between her and Elizabeth, as Elizabeth tries desperately to hold to her belief in the ball. Once Elizabeth realizes that the magic ball cannot predict the future, Melissa resolves the conflict and appeases Elizabeth by asking the magic ball if they will find happiness without any predictions. The ball replies good outlook (Pau, Kimberly). Melissa uses her skepticism, brutal honesty, and logic to not only decipher the accuracy of the magic ball and goes further to guide her friend to a logical conclusion. By doing so, she accurately represents those in the society who choose to use logic rather than blindly follow others in accepting societal beliefs.