“Wow” I thought to myself, “Check out this awesome grey stone!”
I thought I must have been the luckiest person on earth! This stone of magical transformations is awesome! I realized that it possessed great power, and I decided to take my time to think about what I wanted to do with it.
As I hopped back into my light crew-cab pickup truck, I decided to try it out during my next stop at a gas station. Lucky for me, I live in Florida. It was just a good day away from the State Capital, what I call my home. But, I figured it would be fun to try out the stone’s powers while I made my journey from Monroe County, where the Keys were located, to Leon County, where the Capital was.
I had just crossed the county line into Dade County when I decided to make an early stop for gas. I knew that once I headed north, I would get caught in all the traffic going towards the Miami area, and I didn’t want to have to stop there to get gas for my truck. So I stopped at this little gas station, which was literally located in the middle of nowhere, right off of U.S. Highway 1.
A young man walked up to me, patiently waiting for me to turn off the engine of my truck. The boy looked like he was thirteen years old or so, although his face seemed older than that. He wore a baseball cap, a t-shirt and flowery beach shorts with sandals.
“How much do you need, Sir?” he asked politely.
“Thirty Dollars, Unleaded please!” I replied, as I gave him my keys. I decided that I wanted to stretch my legs a little, and I opened the door and climbed out of my car.
I patiently waited while the boy pumped gas. While I stood there, I noticed that he was shorter than me. And being that I’m rather short myself, I began to feel sorry for the kid. Not only that, but I had the grey stone in my hand. The stone appeared to be speaking to me, begging me to use it to transform something or someone. I figured that this would be my golden opportunity to see whether or not this thing really worked.
“So, is there anything interesting going on over here these days?” I asked the boy.
“No, not really…” he replied with a shrug. “Our school has a basketball tournament going on, and I might go and watch the games.”
“Why don’t you play it yourself?” I asked him.
“I’m too short… I’m already fourteen and I’m the shortest guy in my class. There is no way they’ll let me play on the team next year, even though I know how to play!” he replied. I could sense the slight disappointment in his voice. It was something he couldn’t really do much about, either.
“Ahh, I can relate!” I said to him with a chuckle. “I’m kind of short myself. But I’m forty years old and I’m not growing anymore. But if you continue to eat more vegetables, maybe you’ll grow a bit taller!”
I decided to hold on tight to the grey stone. I took a close look at what the boy looked like. I estimated him at five feet tall and about eighty pounds or so. He seemed quite small for a fourteen year old. I figured that this was his lucky day! I had the stone in my hand and I was just itching to try it out on him.
I closed my eyes and wished for the boy to grow six inches in height right now. Immediately I felt a warm glow coming from the stone. It worked! It really worked!
As I opened my eyes, my jaw dropped wide open! The short, skinny boy started to stretch upward as his legs grew longer. His arms grew along with the rest of the body, and so did his torso. He then filled up a little and became slightly more muscular as well. The boy was only five feet tall, and he started to grow taller and taller. Within thirty seconds or so, he was five-and-a-half feet tall, and he was now two inches taller than me. I immediately wished for nobody to notice anything unusual about him, and that everyone would just accept the fact that the boy had gone through a massive growth spurt, which was normal for a kid of his age anyway. I didn’t want any trouble with his parents and I didn’t want to cause any panic either.
“Here you go, Mister” the boy said, as he turned towards me and handed me back my car keys. I couldn’t help but smile, when I saw that he was now taller than me.
“Thanks buddy. Now, what were you telling me about playing basketball at school next year?” I asked him again. I wanted to test him and to see if my wishes really came true.
“Well, I was considered too short to play this year. But I had a growth spurt, and I’ll be playing next year for sure! I grew six inches recently!” the boy cheered out loud, as he put the pump back in the gas dispenser.
“Well, I’m happy for you, big guy! At least you’re tall enough to play basketball!”
“Yeah… You seem kind of short, Mister. Maybe if you were to eat more vegetables, you would grow a little taller?” the boy chuckled.
“I doubt it, dude. I’m a short guy. I’m not going to do much in sports. All I do is sit at the computer all day, where I write programs. And in the evening I write stories for a website. Besides, I’m already forty years old and I’m not growing any taller. Well, I had better hit the road. Good luck in school, champ!” I said to him, as I got back in my truck.
I looked at the grey stone for a moment, before I put it in the ashtray in my car.
“Thank you” I whispered, and it seemed to glow for a moment in response.
Then I turned the key in the ignition and started the car. As I began to pull out of the parking lot, I couldn’t help but smile when I saw the tall, teenage boy standing there, as he waved back to me.
As soon as I got back on U.S. 1, I wondered who I would get to change next. I had the stone. I had its power. And I decided to use it as often as possible. I grabbed hold of it and I wished for the stone to give me wisdom so that I would always know how to use its power the right way.
And then I just pressed my cruise control as the light truck continued to head north, enjoying the view as the Florida sun began to set over the horizon.