The Boy With A Rock

Chapter Four

        Lying on the ground, his head pounding, a pungent smell reached his nose. He felt the urge to reach above his head and there he felt a large mass, rough and jagged. Startled, he sat up, pulling the stone into his lap. This time it was glowing, pulsing even, and he was struck with curiosity. Wanting to take advantage of the rare moment, he began to study it, running the pads of his fingers across the surface. Before he had the chance to further quench his fascination, he was transported into another world, much more mundane and uninteresting.

        Incessant, loud ringing. Again,really? Tajmeh thought. The alarm on his clock had awoken him. I was so close. I could have shown them. He rolled over, not wanting to get out of bed. Ten minutes later, the snooze on his alarm clock had ended and the ringing continued. Tajmeh managed to let out a goofy smile, realizing it was Saturday. He turned off his alarm, closing his eyes again and hiding his head under the covers. Maybe the dream will come back if i try hard enough. Trying to will the dream back, he lost track of time.

        "Tajmeh, are you feeling OK? You've been in bed for quite a while." his mother questioned sympathetically, walking over to his bed to feel is forehead.

        "I'm fine Ma." he replied, pushing her away. He felt bad, just not physically.

        "I'm just a bit tired. Long day yesterday." He added.

        "Alright, tell me if you're feeling funny though." she said, having a juvenile tone to her voice. Tajmeh couldn't help but chuckle, his mother still treating him like a baby despite the fact that he was fourteen.

        After what must have been three hours of lying in bed, he decided to get into some clothes and head to his living room for the sake of his worried mother who must have assumed he was sick anyways. Flipping on the TV he went directly to the sci-fi channel, hoping a few poorly animated CGI  horror movies could take his mind off of the dream. Bored and hungry, he was about to go eat something when a particular movie caught his eye. He saw a rock almost identical to the one he'd seen in his dreams almost a thousand times. He immediately sat up, eyes focused on the screen. He saw it laying there in a simialr position from his dream, but the view around it was much more broad. It seemed to be in the mountains. It was around sunset, the teal aftermath dancing around the saffron sun dipping into the horizon. He waited for any action to occur as it was strange for a movie to be motionless for so long.

        "Taj! You've been staring at the TV for ages. What are you looking at? I thought it was off?" his older sister interrogated. He couldn't answer, in shock still. Tajmeh opened his mouth for a few seconds but closed it, realizing he couldn't yet form words.

        "Are you OK? You've been acting weird lately."

        Again, just a shrug. Rubiyah stood up from the couch, nodding her head at the floor.