A Short Story
written by Evelyn Creon
When humans see a rock, they don’t look at it as a living being, because in our world they’re not living. But what if a rock were living and had it’s, own dreams and responsibilities?
Let me introduce you to Jimmy the rock. He looks like any ordinary rock and has a story like any other rock. Jimmy’s story is unique though; it’s about how he popped my tire just because he could. It was his dream. Let me start from the beginning…
It was January second, two thousand eighteen, in the middle of winter. There had been no snow on the ground for about a week due to all the rain we had had right after Christmas. This was perfect condition for a rock slide. Jimmy was with all the other rocks waiting at the edge of the hillside for the perfect chance to fall. He had been working his way to the edge of the hillside for years.
When Jimmy was just a little rockling, he had heard of this sport called, “tire popping”. All the big rocks talked about how the elderly rocks would fall from the edge of the hillside down onto the road below to purposely pop a humans’ car tire. Jimmy had no idea what a human was, nor did he care. He only knew that all rocklings must have a dream to work towards to be able to survive their fundamental lifestyle.
“Mama”, Jimmy said one day, “My dream is to grow old and pop the tires of the humans’ cars.”
“What a wonderful dream.” Replied his mother. “Before you can accomplish your dream, you must grow big and strong by consuming lots of minerals.”
And that’s just what Jimmy did. When he was two feet in diameter he stated to his mother and said, “I have become big and strong. Now what must I do to accomplish my dream of tire popping?”
His mother was now quite old and falling apart. Her eyesight was gone, so she was unable to see how much her son had grown. Her age had started to become more apparent ever since Jimmy had found his dream so long ago. His mother responded to him with her dry old voice, “I am very proud of you my son. You must work your way to the edge of the hillside, where you will wait for rain. After the rain, has stopped, and the ground is still quite soft with water, you must slide down onto the road. There you will wait for a car to come.”
That’s what Jimmy did. By the time he had reached the edge of the hillside he was an old rock, but still as big and strong as he was in his youth. All the younger rocks that lived on the edge of the hill made way for Jimmy. They didn’t have the same dream as him, they were just there for the sport. Rock laws stated that a rock’s dream always comes before the sport of the other rocks.
He now was at the very edge of the hillside. The beauty before him was none he had ever imagined. He could see far across a river and beyond it mountains in long rows. Below him he could see the road on which the humans’ cars traveled.
Rain came and poured down on the earth, for many days. It was all Jimmy could do to keep from slipping down on to the road below. When he felt he could not hold onto the hillside any longer, he remembered his mother’s words, “After the rain has stopped, and the ground is still quite soft with water, you then must slide down onto the road.” This gave him the strength to hold onto the hillside. Some rocks fell from the hillside and landed in the ditch near the road. Others landed on the road and were dodged by the humans’ cars. Three nights after the rain had stopped Jimmy felt that the ground was just right. Down Jimmy slid, landing right on the road.
It was night, the most perfect time for the sport of tire popping. He had become so big over his lifetime that no human’s car could have dodged him at night. There he waited, waited, and waited. Then, a car with three ladies in it appeared around the bend (one of those ladies being me). These wonderful ladies had been enjoying the most wonderful night and they were on their way home. They didn’t see Jimmy sitting in the middle of the road until it was too late. Over him their car rolled. Jimmy slashed the biggest hole in their tire he could, and bent their rim so well that it couldn’t be used again. The car made only it little way down the road until it came to a complete stop.
Jimmy felt quite satisfied with himself. Then for the first time in his life he saw a human. It was a tall man dressed in a police uniform. He began to roll Jimmy off the road into the ditch so that no other car would hit him. Jimmy was too proud of his accomplishment to care what was happening to him.
Jimmy now lies on the side of the road gloating with pride over the fact that he had accomplished his life dream of tire popping.
The End.
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