The Story of a Rock

I am a biotite rock, from the mica family. I was sitting on the top of a cliff, basking in the sun, when my story began. Immersed in dreaming of rolling from place to place like the rocks that were chosen by avalanches, I didn’t realize the weather change. The strong breeze took me by surprise. A blast of wind suddenly pushed me off of my sedimentary base and I cascaded down the steep mountain.

I rolled down the slope and got caught in a waterfall. The beautiful colors underneath the water sparkled as I passed them. I had started out about a foot in diameter, but the water was grounding me down, little by little.

            By the time I crashed into the pond at the bottom, I was only a six inch polished stone. I rested in its murky depths, yet barely a minute had passed when I found myself lifted up. The noon sunlight glinted off my hidden minerals. I heard a deep voice say, “This rock is perfect. We can use this to break through.”

            “It should do the job. Let’s go,” a rougher voice said. I was dropped into perpetual darkness, but I could feel velvet all around me. I bounced around in what I recognized as a velvet bag for what seemed like many hours, but what in reality must have been five minutes. Eventually, a pinprick of light, like a mini-sun, came into existence high above me. It lighted up the strange velvet darkness before it was blocked again, this time by the same object that had picked me up.

            The object hand grabbed me once again. The human carried me somewhere, while I sat there, mystified.  I started wondering what these humans wanted to do with me, but I was sure I could withstand it. Rocks, you know, are very strong.

            The man put me down, and I felt lights reflect off my surface. There seemed to be slightly tingling rays of light coming from each direction. I felt it burning at the flakes on me. But before the light could actually hurt me, the human picked me up again. His companion said, “Looks like we’re done here. Let’s lose the rock.”

            It took me a while to realize what had happened. Apparently, the two were thieves who wanted to steal something that was surrounded by alarm rays. They used me to reflect the rays, and decided to dump me somewhere now that I had served my purpose.

            I had realized this, and I felt suddenly airborne. I flew through the air, moving with a current. But then gravity claimed me once again, and I dropped into water, skipping across its surface before falling onto a gray surface. It didn’t seem to like me, and I was pushed up by a flow of water. This time a bird grabbed me in its big pouch of a beak.

            After a while the bird got bored with me and dropped me over a group of humans. I dropped on one of their heads. The girl started crying and ran to her mother, carrying me with her. Her other soothed her with nonsensical words.

            She said, “Here Anna, let’s throw the bad rock away.” Oh no, not again. The woman threw me up on the mountain they were hiking. An eagle got in my way, though, and carried me up to the top. I slid off its feathery back and got stuck on a sedimentary pedestal. I sighed in   relief. Sure, my adventure was amazing, but I liked staying on my mountain better.

            If nothing else, I learned it was better to enjoy what I had rather than wishing for something I might not enjoy. I was never leaving again.