The cursed gem

Agreement with a rock

With such a successful experiment, Alchemist Cookie was hoping for a better dream that night. Unfortunately, her wishes weren't heard. So, after another long night, she didn't feel like apologizing to Cherry Blossom Cookie for her rude behavior. Even if she did, she didn't have enough energy to go outside. She kept laying in her bed, staring at the ceiling in silence.

That was, until she heard a knocking on her door. She immediately sat up. She jumped out of bed, rushing towards the crystal. She picked it up. Ignoring the burning pain, she rushed back to her bed and opened a drawer of her nightstand. She gently put the gem in and closed it.

Feeling dizzy from getting up so quickly, she walked up to her door with blurred vision. Just as she opened it, she fell down. She looked up just to see her obnoxious brother, staring down at her. He looked quite uncomfortable but still managed to put on his lazy smile.

-'You good?' he asked. She slowly got up.
-'What do you want?'
-'Just checking in on ya.'
-'Why so early?'
-'Uhm... It's 2 in the afternoon.'
-'Oh.'

He looked down at her clothes, his smile fading away.

-'You didn't change into your pajamas again.'
-'I was busy.'
-'With what?'

Alchemist started to get annoyed with him.

-'Research.'
-'About what?'
-'None of your business.' she said angrily.

Vampire Cookie stood there for a while, as if he was thinking what to say.

-'You're acting strange.'
-'Thanks for noticing.' Alchemist responded sarcastically.
-'How come you're only interested in me now?'
-'What are you talking about?'
-'I'm talking about how you've never been worried about me before but now.'

She had no idea where that sentence came from. It was true, but she never really minded him being oblivious to her struggles, as she believed she could deal with them on her own.

-'There was never really anything to be worried about with you.'
-'But there is now?'
-'Well-'
-'I don't have time for this! It's late already! Stop wasting my time and let me do my research!' she exclaimed, not really sure why she felt so angry all of the sudden.

Before Vampire could respond, she slammed the door shut. She walked up to her nightstand and opened the drawer. She immediately noticed that the glow of the crystal got even brighter.

~'I thought it only gets brighter when I leave the room. Or maybe it thought that the drawer was a room? Do rock have consciousness? Can rocks even see??'

She went to her desk to get her notebook. She started writing down her new discovery.

~'Or maybe the glow is conscious? Maybe it's not even a part of the crystal to begin with!'

As much as she hated magic, she knew that in that moment, it would probably be very much helpful. She picked up the gem carefully. She put it back on the table. She figured that if there were no marks on her body, then, ignoring the pain, the crystal was okay to touch.

She started observing it, when she heard a knock on her window. She sprinted to it, to see Pancake Cookie.

He would sometimes climb up to come knocking on her window when he was bored. He'd ask for a task, which Alchemist Cookie would take as an opportunity to refill her supplies. Of course, she'd send him to get things that were pretty much everywhere, as to not get him into trouble. After all, he was still just a small, naive cookie.

She opened the window, looking annoyed.

-'Alchemist! Alchemist!' the cookie yelled out playfully.
-'Yes?' she answered coldly.
-'Do you have a quest for me? Do you? Do you?'
-'I've refilled my resources not so long ago. There's nothing I need at the moment.'
-'Aww, please? I'm bored!'
-'I don't have time to entertain you. I'm in the middle of an important research.'

She began feeling more angry at the young cookie.

-'Ooh can I help?'
-'No.'
-'Please?? I promise I won't break anything!'
-'No means no.'
-'Well... Can I at least watch??'

Alchemist Cookie was getting sick of Pancake's squeaky voice.

-'No, you cannot! Now go and waste your time as you always do!' she screamed at the cookie as she closed her window.

She covered it with a curtain. She turned to the crystal. In the dark, she could clearly notice, that the glow got even brighter. But why? She didn't leave her room this time. Maybe it had something to do with her looking at it?

She walked up to it as Pancake Cookie kept knocking at her window.

~'Dumb kid.'

She surprised herself with this thought. She wasn't very fond of children but she was always glad to see Pancake Cookie's cheerful face. Why did she keep on being so angry at everyone? It must've been because of these nightmares. Everyone doesn't act like themselves when they don't get a good sleep.

She stood in front of the table. The only thing that was disrupting the darkness was the warm glow of the crystal.

-'The others just don't get it. They don't know how hard it is.'
-'They don't get it. They don't get it.'
She could hear faint whispers, coming from the gem. She smiled.
-'I knew you'd understand.'

Since when did she talk to rocks? And since when could rocks understand what she was saying??? And yet it felt so normal. So natural. She sat down on her knees, still staring at the crystal.

-'You're the only one who understands me.'

(I hope I did the paragraphs right, really sorry if not.)