The White Stone [MsBloom / captain_bond]

[MsBloom]

Wren Jones

Age: 17
Gender: AFAB NB
Pronouns: They/Them
Orientation: Undetermined
Background: Born in Hawaii (Mother: Native Hawaiian Father: Welsh)
Moved to Boston to live with their aunt after both their parents died in a plane crash back from the mainland when they were three. Came out as: "Not just a girl but not quite a boy either." (Their phrasing). Photography and art has always interested them and when starting high school they joined the photo club as their main extra curricular activity.

@captain_bond

June 20th

Colebrook, New Hampshire, as close to the middle of nowhere one could get. But that what you get for getting yourself into enough trouble to land you in juvenile court. You end up spending the entire summer holidays with your aunt in some godforsaken place that might not even be big enough to make it onto a map.

Wren sighed. At least the light and the way it was filtered by the foliage of the large wood, through which ran a brook (which they assumed was either named after the gathering of houses or vice versa), was interesting ... from a photographic perspective. Even the way it reflected in the water and they had spent most of their first day there taking photographs of that light. Nature wasn't exactly among their favourite subjects but it was all there was out in this wilderness. And even a city kid like themself had to admit that the waterfall, they had heard someone in the small town refer to as Beaver Brook Falls, was kind of spectacular. Perhaps not in the way one might call Niagara Falls spectacular but still.

As the light filtering through the foliage began to fade Wren sat down on a rock, just large enough to be used to sit on, took out a cigarette and lit it. That's when they spotted it in the brook just where the water began to calm down below the falls. A perfectly smooth white stone, white as in pure white, not a speck of colour anywhere on it. They reached into the water and picked it up. It was cool to the touch from the water and just big enough to fit in the palm of their hand.

They sat back down and as they slowly smoked their cigarette they turned it over a few times in their hand before softly rubbing it against their cheek. It had been polished absolutely smooth by the water and it felt almost like a caress. They had honestly never before felt anything as smooth.

With a slightly embarrassed smile they first looked around to make sure there was no one else around and then they pressed the white stone against their lips.

 

[captain_bond]

Tyler loved taking hikes in the woods surrounding Colebrook. It felt like you could spend your whole life on these trails and never see everything. It was all surrounding a small town, with small-town vibes. Of course, that meant when his parents were killed in that car crash, everyone heard about it, everyone told him how sorry they were, and nobody would forgive the drunk driver who did it, even after he got out of jail. He eventually left town and no one was sorry to see him leave.

After a few years in which he did okay in school but didn't really seem to be interested in much else, earlier this summer his grandfather (who, along with his grandmother, had been taking care of him since his parents died) had the idea to offer him a part-time job at the town's general store. Not only would he of course get paid, but his wages would be matched at the end of the summer, doubling the money he earned, and they'd pay for him to go to that convention in Boston he'd been dreaming of for the past two summers.

So with proper motivation, Tyler Vance threw himself into the work. There was little involved in running the store that he wasn't willing or able to do. But all work and no play, as they say, so he was on a well-deserved break when he came across someone with a white stone in...her hands? I mean, looks like a chick, definitely on the smaller side. Think I see tits under that top. Huh, found the White Stone, have you? He'd heard about the local legend, once every so often a white stone would appear in one of the creeks or rivers around town, and whoever found it would have good fortune for as long as they had it. Or so the legend went, anyway. One time, it was shared between two people, a man and a woman who were just friends from school, but the legend grew to include how the power of the white stone caused them to fall in love. They were married now, and just so happened to be Tyler's grandparents. The fact they were sort of figures in local lore, particularly in such a romantic way, made him smile.

Still, he figured he'd mess with this chick--person, whatever, it's 2024 so it's not always safe to assume--and picked his way carefully through the undergrowth, using his bamboo walking stick to steady himself and placing his high-end hiking boots where he would make no noise. Finally close enough to be really effective--but not within striking distance--he bellowed, at the top of his lungs, "DUDE! YOU FOUND THE WHITE STONE!"