The Stone of Thunder

Finding

The lightning strikes a little closer catching him off guard, but now he can see the outline of the trees around him. He feels dizzy but keeps on pressing forward looking for something. Not knowing what he is looking for, but knowing it is important. He is drawn to the thunder. Taking each step closer with his hands out in front of him feeling around. He sees a flash from behind and hears the thunder roar. He flies far forward onto the ground. He knows the shirt on his back and his shorts are surely torn. And he suspects the top layer of skin may be peeled off completely. But for some reason this raw pain doesn't bother him. Still marching forward toward the light. One last flash of lightning...

NOLLY ... NOLLY ... NOLLYYYYY

"Nolly," he hears his friend say as he takes his head off his desk and wipes his mouth, "class is over Nolly!"

"Whoops, thanks for waking me up Garret."

"Anytime, now let's go eat."

Next thing he knows, he's in the cafeteria eating with his friend Garret and this kid named Tony. He spaces out completely thinking about the dreams he's been having, the lightning, the forest, the stone, the thunder calling him.

"Hey man, are you going to eat that?" asks Tony.

"Nah," he slides the plate over to Tony "take it."

Tony porks down on the food. But don't worry free loaders aren't going to get a main role in this story.

"So what are you thinking about" asks Garret.

"Not much, just daydreaming."

He closes his eyes seeing the crashing waves below slam against the hull of the ship. He grabs the main steering wheel seeing that the captain of the ship is knocked unconscious. He immediately pulls the wheel to the left barely brushing up against a boulder he was trying to dodge. The rain doesn't give him much visibility, so he keeps his eyes peeled for the boulders that come out of the water. One appears and a sharp right turn is made.

Meanwhile Garret is putting his hand up and down his face hoping to grab his attention. What's up Garret? he says in the boat.

Nolly snaps out of it and says "Yea, what's up?" with a smile and a bit of a grin.

Garret says "You might space off a little too much."

"Yea, maybe."

Garret asks "What are your plans for later today?"

"I gotta jump on a flight tonight, to go visit my grandma and grandpa in Alaska."

The day goes on and hours pass by. He starts packing for Alaska, throwing all his clothes in his carry-on bag. Then he begins packing his backpack. He packs it full of the following items: a journal, a pen, a pencil, a laptop, a pocket knife, a gameboy advance, a single piece of gum, a scratched DVD disc, a smaller pillow, a wallet, a phone, and a comb.

Now done packing he falls onto the couch. The couch goes around him and consumes him. Next thing he knows he's awake in the dark, not being able to see much of anything. Walking forward through the dark mist he sees a purple alien blob slug like monster that's facing away from him.

Nolly curiously asks "what's your name?"

The alien slug then jumps into the air doing a 180° degree turn to face him. He has a cane in one of his arms and a hat on his head. My name is "Riley the dancing slug, wha la!" He opens his arm out and goes in a dance number singing this song.