Here are my comments at the time of judging the Anti-Gravity contest.

Of all the entrants, this is the one that I most enjoyed reading. So if that were the only criterion, it would win.

But with respect to the challenge, this isn’t really a “political” protest as such, is it?

I also have some problems with story’s structure. The first paragraph is too long in proportion to the story, and should have been trimmed back a bit, giving you room to extrapolate on the later paragraphs. In other words your story has a balance problem.

I’d like to know something about why the gods decided to grant Tom’s request. Did they owe him a favour, or did they just have a warped sense of humour?

The gods are essentially lazy. It was my intention, although not stated, that they would have approved the request in a sort of “whatever, dude” fashion.

You’re right about the balance, I just wasn’t sure how to better arrange it.

You’re also right that it’s not a political protest, more the overenthusiasm of an academic.

All points cheerfully conceded, and I’ll work on the balance, though I won’t attempt to rewrite this.

Glad you liked it :)