I get up and look at the darkened stone. A glimmer of recognition, as the stone offers me powers beyond my imagining. I laugh and reply, "Hello again, but I've got a frightening imagination."
The stone groaned, or attempted to groan as much as a crystalline power source can groan.
"I thought Merlin or Morgaine pulverized you after that stunt you pulled turning Arthur Pendragon into a dragon."
The stone audibly gulped--now that must have taken effort.
"Pulverized my brother was, but survived I did. Let me prove to you that I can help you. You can sense my power."
I walked along the boardwalk sunbathers lay crowded for bare patches of sand.
"I can transform you into a hulky sexually irresistable man," offered the stone. I felt the stone leap in my hand, and a jolt passed through my body, but nothing happened.
The stone seemed to gasp.
A girl in a bikini on roller blades that had just whizzed passed me let out a moan. The moan started out high and rapidly descended to deep bass. I turned to watch her sprawled out on the sand as her clean tanned body started to bulk up and sprout hair.
Glancing at the stone, I whispered, "Missed."
The changing girl's friends skated back to help.
"Missy are you allright? Wow, where did you get that bulge?"
"Hey, Missy, whoa, are you a dude? Man, you are hot! If I was gay I'd, shoot I'm throwing a boner..."
"Missed big time, again."
"Well, all I said was sexually irresistable. I didn't promise to whom or what." A dog in heat barked, and a cat ran up to Missy with a dead mouse offering. I shook my head.
"It's been a while. Give me another chance," pleaded the stone.
I sighed. Power to reshape the world, but dumb as a rock.
The stone glowed, "I know I'll transform you into a bird..." the man laying nearest on a beach towel let out a squawk as feathers began to sprout from his pale flesh. His spring break had gone to the birds. The girl next to him squawked too, a plucked a feather from her chin. I walked on. "A dog?" the stone asked. A boy howled as I passed by. "Elephant?" asked the stone. A man blowing into a Kleenex, suddenly trumpeted as his nose became an elephant's trunk. I hurried on still holding the stone. "Giraffe? Leopard? Pig? Elk? Rhino? Moose? Unicorn? Eagle? Horse? Goat?" and the stone rambled on like the pursers aboard Noah's Ark taking roll call. I almost threw it into the sea, but it would probably cause more harm there. As I headed back to my hotel, I left a beach covered with a bizarre menagerie.
The stone throbbed with an angry, frustrated inner light,"There must be something I can do to you, Drakkenfyre!"
"Pulverizing may be too good for you! Look at the mess you caused!" I point behind me, the stone flickers as if laughing.
"Now I remember why I turned you and your three siblings into stones in the first place!" I shouted.
The stone seemed confused, "You mean I was something before I was a magic stone?"