" follows the ball " is a self-published, written and edited by Rodrigo Rosm between January 2016 and January 2018, a pocket novel that uses the carnival as a guiding thread for the narrative: The story of a young couple and the challenge of educating their son facing socioeconomic difficulties and a world full of temptations. The life of Fernando and Daiana is narrated within a time frame that includes the pre-carnival, carnival week and post-carnival in the city of Rio. Among details of the family relationship, certain episodes reveal aspects of contemporary Rio de Janeiro: major public works ; civic demonstrations; sexual freedom; occupation of spaces and urban intervention. A fragmented narrative with the flavor of peripheral song, a poetic prose influenced by the rhythm of the city.