Bobby was on his way to school when suddenly; he tripped and fell over what felt like a huge log. When he looked at what had knocked him over, Bobby saw a small stone, the size of his palm. He picked up the stone and examined it closely, wondering how such a small rock could have caused him to fall and scrape his leg. As he looked closer at it, Bobby noticed a design on the surface of the stone. It appeared to be a sun and a moon. Intrigued, he slipped the stone gently into his pocket, and continued on to school.

When the bell rang, Bobby quickly shoved all his books into his backpack and ran out of the building. His mom waited for him in the school parking lot. He Bobby immediately recognized his family’s new, blue van and hurried towards it. His mom pressed the button that automatically opened the sliding door, and Bobby hopped it.

“How was your day, honey?” she asked, looking at him through the rearview mirror.

“Boring,” he replied, without hesitation. Bobby put his hand in his pocket to make sure the stone he had found was still there. It was. “Can you hurry up mom?” he asked, irritated.

“Why? Do you have a special date or something?” Bobby hated when his mom made that joke. It wasn’t funny and it was getting old, so he simply grunted and slouched back into his seat. “Put on your seatbelt,” his mom instructed him.

They were home in no time, and Bobby threw open the van door, not bothering to use the cool new automatic button feature. He grabbed his backpack, and just then, everything fell out.

“Bobby, pick this up!” his mother called out to him. But Bobby wasn’t concerned with his schoolbooks that had dropped in the middle of the driveway. His mom could take care of that. All he wanted to do was go up to his room and examine his new stone. Bobby was easily fascinated and always wanted to learn more about different artifacts. He was always quizzing his mother about various antique pieces they had in there home. He wanted to know each item’s story. When he was older, Bobby wished to become an archeologist. He could think of nothing more fascinating than digging up ancient pieces that no one had found before, and discovering their mysterious history.

Once in his room, Bobby opened the drawer of his wooden desk to retrieve a paintbrush. He removed the stone from his pocket and placed it upon the desk’s surface. He then brushed off the dirt resting on the stone’s surface. Realizing the shades in his room were still closed, Bobby opened them one by one. Just then, a streak of sunshine shined upon the stone. It glistened in the light, and Bobby took notice. He had never seen anything like it. His curiosity heightened, and he slowly approached the stone. Cautiously, he pointed his index finger and moved it towards the shimmering stone. There was a warm heat radiating from it, and as his finger drew closer, the temperate increased. Then finally, he was touching the stone. Suddenly, Bobby felt his body lift off the ground, and he was no longer in his bedroom. He was floating high above everything, mingling with the clouds in the sky. As he looked down, Bobby could see his entire town at once. It was all so exciting that he didn’t quite realize what was happening. All he could do was take in the moment. Bobby looked around and saw his mother picking up his schoolbooks in the driveway, his teacher leaving school, his friend playing in the backyard with his dog, a policeman arresting a thief, and many other scenes. Then, before he knew it, Bobby’s body dropped back down, and he was just another boy in his room again.

“What just happened?” he wondered to himself. “How was that possible? It’s not. I was dreaming. Yes, I must’ve been dreaming,” he tried convincing himself. There was no way that he could have just levitated above the entire town. No way. And how was it possible for him to breathe at such great heights? This was too much to take in, and Bobby plopped himself down on his bed. He tried to find an explanation for what had just occurred, but couldn’t come up with any. The stone must be magical. “It has powers,” he thought to himself.

That night, before Bobby went to sleep, he tucked the stone under his pillow. He closed his eyes and was soon dreaming. It was no dream he had experienced before. In this dream, God was there, and he spoke to him.

“Bobby,” God said, “the discovery you made today is no coincidence. You have been chosen to receive the stone. I bestow it upon you. This is a great honor, Bobby, and I’m sure you will put it to good use.” Bobby then abruptly woke up. His body jumped and he gasped in for a breath of fresh air.

“Bobby!” his mom came running in. “Bobby, are you okay?” she asked, very concerned. She rubbed his back and waited for him to catch his breath.


“I’m fine,” he responded. “I just had a weird dream.”

“Alright then. I’ll leave you alone. Call me if you need anything.” And with that, Bobby’s mother returned to her bedroom.

Bobby got out of bed to put on a sweatshirt because his house was getting cold. His mother liked to turn the temperature down a few degrees at night, and Bobby always complained about it. The sweatshirt he pulled over his head was from an archeology camp he had attended the previous summer. It was the sweatshirt Bobby wore when he uncovered his first fossil while at the camp. After putting on the sweatshirt, he returned to his bed and grabbed the covers that had drifted to the side. Bobby began contemplating what his dream meant. It wasn’t actually God speaking to him, or was it? If so, his message was unclear. What did he want Bobby to do with the stone? Why was he chosen to possess it? There were so many questions that Bobby’s dream left unanswered. Overwhelmed with thought, he closed his eyes and decided to worry about it in the morning.

The sun rose the next morning and was so strong that it beamed in Bobby’s room, through his shades. Bobby woke up feeling relieved that it was Saturday and that he had the entire day to himself. He went into the bathroom to brush his teeth and returned to his room. Confused, Bobby couldn’t remember if his previous day was a dream or real life. He picked up his pillow, revealing a stone with a sun and moon inscribed on it, confirming that the previous day was in fact real. Bobby lifted the shades from his windows, letting the strong sunshine in his room. Stone in hand, Bobby walked closer to the window to get a look at the beautiful weather. The stone began heating up in his hand, and soon began to glitter when the sun beamed upon it. Bobby stared at it in amazement, the same way he had when he first witnessed this spectacle. Then suddenly, Bobby felt his body levitating as it had done so the day before. Before he knew it, he was hundreds of feet above his town. Bobby was fascinated and decided to try to move through the air. He swam through the sky and reached a fluffy cloud that looked inviting.

“People can’t sit on clouds,” Bobby said to himself. “It’s impossible.” Even so, he decided to try, and plopped himself atop the pillow-like cloud. It was the softest texture he had ever felt, and Bobby was surprised that he was able to sit on it. But then again, he was floating in the sky. Anything was possible.

Bobby was enjoying his repose atop the cloud when unexpectedly; he heard a voice near him.

“Bobby,” it spoke, “you now have the world on your shoulders. With this stone, you have the power to change people’s lives for the better. It’s your job to determine how to do this.”


An hour or so passed by and Bobby was still sitting on the cloud. He started to worry if he would be able get down. He knew that once night fell the stone’s powers would cease and he would descend back to his room, but he needed to get back for lunchtime. His mother would start to worry. But how could he get back down?

“Think,” he said to himself. “Maybe if I channel all my energy into the thought of getting home it will work.” He did just that, and within a moment, he was back inside his bedroom.

“Bobby, time for lunch!” his mother called up the stairs. Perfect timing.

“What’ve you been up to?” Bobby’s mother asked him as he sat down for lunch. They were having macaroni and cheese.

“Not much, just reading some books,” he responded.

“Anything good?”

“Not really.” Just then, the phone rang. It was his mom’s boss. Even from sitting several feet away from the phone, Bobby could hear her boss yelling. Then he saw his mother hang up the phone, and tears started leaking from her chocolate brown eyes.

“What’s wrong, Mom?” Bobby questioned.

“Nothing, just finish your lunch,” she answered. Upset that his mom was crying, Bobby scarfed down the remained of his macaroni and rushed back up to his bedroom. Looking for an answer, he picked up the stone and moved towards the window with it. It began glistening and soon enough, Bobby was back with the clouds. He closed his eyes and focused all his energy on his mom, trying to discover what had happened. Suddenly, he was able to hear the conversation his mom just had with her boss. He fired her. Bobby was overwhelmed with sorrow, knowing how hard his mom worked to keep a roof over their heads and put food on their plates. After his father left, things became increasingly difficult for the both of them. Bobby couldn’t bear watching his mother suffer and tried to think of a way to help. It seemed that focusing all his energy on what he wanted while his body was elevated worked. With that little information, Bobby focused his energy on turning back the time and keeping his mom from getting fired.

Within the blink of an eye, Bobby was sitting back in his kitchen with the same bowl of macaroni and cheese in front of him. His mother was there and the phone rang again. He listened in.

“Hello,” his mom answered.

“Hi, Theresa? This is Jim.”

“Here it goes…” Bobby thought to himself.

“Hi Jim! How’re you?”

“I’m fine, thanks. I just wanted to call to let you know that you left your wallet on your desk today.”

“Oh my goodness, thank you! I was looking all over for that,” she exclaimed. The stone worked. Bobby had the power to do what he wanted with it, and this was just the beginning of the magic that he would make. Bobby’s mother finished her conversation with her boss, but Bobby didn’t bother listening to the rest.

“What was that about, Mom?” he asked her, already knowing the answer.

“Oh, I left my wallet at work yesterday. I’m going to go pick it up at Jim’s house. I’ll be back in a half hour. If anyone calls, take a message for me.” As his mother left the house, Bobby smiled to himself.

“That’s it,” a voice whispered to him.