Instinctively Ace backs away as she would from any blast, putting distance between her and the explosion, but she'd forgotten about the football. Abruptly she loses her footing as she steps on it instead of the solid ground and goes over backward in a flurry of feathers.


...

Suddenly everything is too big, with even the football suddenly appearing monstrous. The landscape seems oddly flat, and there's more of it, spreading away behind her. She opens her mouth to protest, but all that comes out is an indignant rough cawing.