the only way to get pushed off is to turn your back completely

i was the weird kid
who wanted a second turn
when we were in elementary school
science class
learning about magnets' ability to attract and repel each other
and we passed two magnets around.

i spent a little too long pulling them apart
and watching them find their way back to each other.
i would play tag with them on my desk,
chasing the other around and watching it repel
until it hit just the right angle to suck it back in again.

there was something inside them that just had to pull toward each other.
these little invisible strings of energy just pulling at each other. 
it was like one magnet could see that the other magnet was opening this part of himself up to him,
and this made it harder for them both to breathe,
so he licked his lips and they gasped toward each other,
relaxing as their energy threads intertwined.
but if they were pulled apart and one magnet faced the other way,
he would see those energy threads curl up inside the other magnet
behind a black wall.
this would make them stick straight out in the other direction and force them apart,
as if they'd want nothing to do with each other.

i don't know anyone who would pass up the chance to play with some cool magnets.
i will never get tired of it.

the funny thing about magnets is that it has to be facing the right angle in order to attract or repel.

if you want them stuck together then face them head on.
if you want them apart then turn their backs on each other.

you can experiment and see how long you can sit a magnet in a certain direction,
slowly turning it,
before it will jerk toward the other.
but you usually can't predict when that will happen.
it just does.

if you think about it
magnets are really simple.

if you want them to attract
you know what to do.
if you want them to repel
keep them far apart.

they only have those two forces.
anything else is just playing with them.

you don't know how strong the pull force is just by looking at it.
you don't know when the distance will be too much.
you know what is going to happen, but
not when it's going to happen.

that's what makes magnets so fun.
you test those two forces,
watch them work,
see how long you can flirt with those powers
before one of them takes over.
in the end,
it is GOING to take over
because you're not really in control of those forces,
now, are you?

so...
you either do it or you don't.
you either get pulled in
or forced away.
and anything else is just flotsam and jetsam,
so to speak.

if i were you i wouldn't want to get stuck to a magnet.
they're powerful and people are always touching them
and using them to stick pizza delivery phone numbers to their refrigerators.
you have to open yourself up, if even just a little bit, and the magnet can see something inside of you and grab ahold.
it sounds like it hurts.

if i were you i would turn around and start walking away.
looking over your shoulder at it is only taking a risk.
you can't take any risks when you're trying to avoid a magnet.

if i were you i wouldn't spin myself in circles while i had them surrounding me.
i'd plant my feet and turn my back on them
before i got dragged in,
because magnets can't pull themselves apart.