One evening as May was closing down the
restaurant there was a loud knock on the front door. “Who could that be?”
thought May as she walked toward the door to open it. As May opened the
door, she saw a strange figure which looked like a square rock.
The square creature was red. It
had a face with blue eyes, a pointed nose and a triangle mouth. The
monster looked like a rock. It spoke, “I demand that the rocks on the
door be returned to me at once” “wait” May said. “Why do you want
them back? Who are you?” May questioned “I am Ruby” the
figure answered. “I have come to take all that is mine” it added.
“Ok, but you must be mistaken” said May. “Perhaps there was a
misunderstanding” she added. “There is no misunderstanding.
The stones belong to me. If you do not give them to me, I will destroy
this restaurant” Ruby responded. “Alright, I will give them to you” said
May in a shaky voice.
May left the creature and headed to the right
side of the restaurant where she kept supplies. She was looking for a
rock cutter but could not find one. After what seemed forever, May
decided to use scissors to cut the rocks off of the door. She returned
to where the door was and began to cut out the rocks.
After two and half hours May successfully
removed all the rocks. Ruby accepted all the rocks that
May give the creature and disappeared immediately. “Wow! I did it this
time” said May. In the mean time, Steve had returned to
GreenMountain. He had not been informed of what May did.
Ten days later, May and Steve met at
Yummyland to discuss some personal stuff. He wanted more than just a
friendship from May. As Steve entered the restaurant, he noticed that
there were only a few people in the restaurant. May saw Steve and stopped
what she was doing.
“Hi Steve” said May as she walked over
to meet him. “Hey, do you have a minute?” asked Steve. “Sure,
what’s up?” “I was wondering what happened to those rocks on the door”,
said Steve.
“Well, it is a long story, one that I cannot
tell you” “Oh, why not? Is there something that you wish to keep
from me?” Steve asked with surprise in his voice. “Yes, there was a
creature that stopped by here about ten days ago who demanded of the
rocks. I knew you were a rock collector so I chose to withhold this
information from you” said May in a reluctant voice. “I am sorry” she
added. “That is fine” said Steve.
“I need help” said May. “The creature
might come back if it finds out that I did not give it one rock” May
continued. “I can help” said Steve. “Do you have a plan?”
asked May. “Yes, I was thinking if Ruby shows up demanding of the missing
rock, then you can just give it another rock. Hopefully, that will work”
Steve replied. “Ok, let’s do it” said May.
“Where will we get the rock?” asked
May. “I have a rock at home that I can let you have. You can give
it to Ruby when it comes knocking at the door.” Steve said. “Good plan”
said May. "What do you say we take a walk to my house and I will
give you the stone?” asked Steve. ”Ok” May agreed.
“Tonight when I close the restaurant, I will
meet you outside the front door of this restaurant” May said. “That is fine”
said Steve. “Good” said May. Four hours later, May closed the restaurant and
met Steve by the front door. They said their greetings and Steve led the way as
they walked to his house. Fifteen minutes later, Steve and May reached Steve’s
house.
The house was light brown with four windows
on it. It was a small house. Steve reached into his pants pocket
for the house key. As he inserted the key into the door lock, he said, “I have
plenty of rocks. It is a matter of choosing the right rock” “Ok, but I do not
know my choices” said May. “Do not worry. I will tell you” said Steve.
Once Steve and May were inside, they found
two chairs and a table nearby. Steve and May sat on the chairs to
talk. “Where are you keeping your special rocks?” asked May as she looked
around. The inside of Steve’s house had three small rooms and a small
hallway which ran across the doors of the rooms. There were lots of
colorful rocks on the walls of each room.
“I keep them in another room” Steve
replied. “Ok, can I go to the other room with you?” questioned
May. “Sure” said Steve as he got up from his chair. “Follow me”
Steve added. May got up from her chair and began to walk towards
Steve. Steve was walking down the hall to another small room where he
kept his special rocks.
When Steve and May got to the second room,
May was amazed at the variety of stones she saw. There were many kinds of
stones there. There were a few small rocks, colored rocks, and stones
which looked like glass. There were many more rocks.
“Hey May, look at this!” said Steve in an
excited voice as he spotted a stone similar to the stones on May’s restaurant
door. May came over to where Steve was and said, “Wow! You have done it
again” “Thank you” she added. “Not a problem”, said Steve.
The rock that Steve showed May was
colorful. It was a small stone. The rock was beautiful. Steve
placed the rock in a small case and gave it to May. May carefully placed
the case on a nearby table.
After a few minutes, Steve asked, “Do you
love me?” May looked at Steve in shock and replied, “Yes, I do” “I want
to live with you” added May. “Ok. As long as you do not mind having
plenty of rocks in the house” Steve said. “No, I do not mind” May said
with laughter in her tone. “Good” said Steve.
May picked up the small rock carrying case
and smiled to herself. “Well, it is time for me to get going.
Thanks again for the stone replacement” said May as she exited the room and
walked to the front door. “You are welcome” Steve called out after
her. “I love you” he added. “I love you more. Bye for
now. Until next time” May shouted back with enthusiasm in her voice.
Now outside Steve’s house, May could not stop
thinking about Steve. She could not wait to see him again. After an
hour of standing outside May decided to leave Steve’s town and walked
home.
Four days after Steve visited May at
Yummyland, Ruby returned to the restaurant to claim the last of the rocks on
the door. May was busy cleaning the restaurant when she heard the
knocking on the door. Ruby came knocking at the front door as it
demanded “Where is my missing stone?” May responded, “This is my
restaurant. I am in no position to give you what you demand. You do
not demand anything from me. I still have one stone and it is the most
powerful one. Please leave or I will be forced to use it”. Ruby
began to move back as it realized that it could do nothing to convince May to
give in. Ruby was hopeless and at May’s mercy.
After Ruby recovered from being shocked at
May’s words, it demanded, “What do you mean? The rock has no power”
“Why do you want it back then?” May asked. “They belong to me” said Ruby
“The rocks that you have are my own eggs” Ruby added as it lunged forward to
enter the restaurant. May said, “No, I will not give you the missing
stone. In fact, I want you to give me back the stones I gave
you. You cannot convince me that the stones are yours”. “And you can’t
convince me that that last stone has any power” said Ruby getting more and more
aggravated with May. “Listen here Ruby; let’s just call it a truce. Will
you? I mean after all; you have in your possession most of the rocks so, I will
keep this one rock because it was on my property. Therefore, it and
the others that I graciously gave to you belong to me.” May went to shut
the door in Ruby’s face, but it came with a quickness and lunged out at May
trying to grab hold of her arm, but she felt something pulling her back.
As Ruby turned frantically, it realized that
all hope of ever recovering the rock was lost. Ruby was powerless and was
forced to leave. Ruby desperately wanted the rock. “How
can I convince May that the rock is really my egg?” thought Ruby. “There
must be a way. I will get the last rock eventually. No one or
nothing will be able to stop me”, it said aloud.
Despite Ruby’s failure to obtain the last of
the stones, it continued to visit Yummyland for seven more times. During
the seventh time of Ruby’s visit, Ruby tried a more friendly approach. It
knocked on the door softly. “Can I come in?” asked a soft voice.
May was busy closing down the restaurant when she heard the voice. It
seemed pleading and May could not resist.
May opened the door just a little and
recognized who it was. “Maybe I will let you in” said May from one side
of the door. “Please, I want to talk” said the voice on the other side of
the door. May debated whether or not she should let this stranger in.
After five minutes, May finally reached a
decision and decided not to let Ruby in. She would talk to it outside.
“No, you may not come in” said May in a firm voice. “We can talk
right here” she added. “Ok fine” said the voice. “What do you
want? Why have you returned?” asked May as she stepped outside closer to
where Ruby was. “I want the rocks” said Ruby desperately.
“You see May, I am only a mother rock”
continued Ruby. At those words May was silent for a moment. She was
trying to determine whether Ruby’s words had some truth to them. May
finally asked, “Can you prove it?” Ruby said, “Let me show you.
Come, May, let us go to where I live and I will prove my case”
“Wait” said May. “Is this a trick?”
asked May. “No, it is not” said Ruby. “If you want, I can give you
time to think about it. I will return two days from now” Ruby
continued. “Ok, I will give it some thought” said May as she turned
toward the restaurant door. “Ok, that will do” said Ruby. “I
will be on my way” it added. “Bye” May called out as she opened the
restaurant door to let herself in.
Once inside the restaurant, May began to
think aloud, “What do I tell Steve? It would be impossible to explain because I
do not fully understand” “Oh, how I wish Steve was here. I could
think more clearly if he was” said May aloud to no one.
After a few moments, May decided to lock up
the restaurant for the night and go home. May lived in a yellow house in
ShortWood. It was four houses from Yummyland. The house had one
floor. It also had three windows, a door, and one bedroom.
When May got home, she went to the
bedroom. In the bedroom, there was a bed, a chair, and a table. May
wanted to get some rest, so she lay down and tried to sleep, but sleep would
not come.
May kept thinking of the encounter with
Ruby. It was a restless night. “What if this was a trick?
What if Ruby was really going to bring destruction to her restaurant? What
could I do?” thought May.
The next day, May went to Yummyland to work
her usual shift, but she felt disturbed. She tried hard, but could not
concentrate. Her mind was on the previous evening’s events.
A few hours later Steve came to visit
May. He entered the restaurant and sat at an empty table. The table
was near a window. Ten minutes later, May came to Steve’s table.
Steve looked at May with a concerned look. “What’s wrong?” asked
Steve. “We have to talk” said May in a whisper. “Ok” said Steve not
knowing where this conversation might end up at.
“Well, let us just say Ruby stopped by last
night” said May in a trembling voice. “And?” said Steve, looking at May
trying to calm her down to talk. “Ruby wanted me to go with it” said May,
the words coming out in a rush. Steve was quiet for a moment as he
thought of what to say. He said, “It will be alright. Now tell me
exactly what happened”
“Ok. Here goes” said May, trying to
stay calm. “As I was saying, Ruby was here last night. It wanted me
to go to where it lived” May went on. “Ok. What’s so bad about
that?” asked Steve. “I think it is a trick” said May.
“What if I go with you?” suggested
Steve. “Ok I guess” said May in a reluctant voice. “When will Ruby
come back to the restaurant?” questioned Steve. “Two evenings from last
evening” May responded. “Alright then” said Steve. “I will
make plans to meet you at this restaurant the evening that Ruby will visit”
Steve added. “Ok” May agreed.
“Do you want anything to eat or drink?” asked
May. “No thank you” said Steve, knowing that May was busy. “Ok, I
will get back to my work” she said. With that, May went to a nearby
counter to review some orders. Steve sat alone for two minutes and
left the restaurant.
Two evenings later, Ruby visited Yummyland
again. It wanted to know what May wanted to do. Ruby knocked softly
and asked, “May, are you in there?” May was inside the restaurant cleaning when
she heard the voice and the knocking sound. “Yes, I will be right
out” said May as she finished cleaning. Steve was with May. He had
come back to accompany May. Two minutes later, May opened the door and
stepped outside. Steve decided to stay inside the restaurant while May
and Ruby talked outside. He would be filled in on certain details later.
“Hi Ruby” said May. “I have decided to
go with you under one condition” she added. “What is that?” asked
Ruby. “My friend Steve will come too. If that is ok with you” said
May. “Sure, that is fine. The more friends the better” said Ruby.
Steve was inside. He was waiting for
May to come in. “Ok, I will tell Steve” May said. “That will
do” said Ruby. “I will be right back” said May as she headed inside the
restaurant. Ruby waited outside.
After ten minutes, May opened the door and
she and Steve stepped outside to meet Ruby. Steve looked at Ruby for the first
time. He was surprised to see that Ruby was a rock with a
face. May said, “Ruby, this is my friend Steve” “Hi” said
Ruby.
Steve asked, “Where do you live?” “I
live in a town called Rocktown” said Ruby. “Where is that?” asked May.
Ruby replied, “It is five towns from here” “Ok” said May. “How will
we get there?” asked Steve. “I will fly us all there” said Ruby.
With that, the square rock suddenly grew bigger so that it became a rectangle.
Steve said, “I thought Ruby was a square
rock” “So did I” May agreed. Ruby said, “I am a special rock”
“What? How are you different from any other stone?” Steve
questioned. “You see, not only am I a mother rock, but I also can
turn into other shapes” Ruby explained. “How do I know this is not a trick?”
asked May looking at Steve then moving her eyes to Ruby and then back to Steve.
Steve said, “Come on May. Let us
just give Ruby the chance to prove its case” “If this creature is playing
a trick, then I can take care of it and vanish it. That is if it came to
that” he added. Ruby said, “Come, May and Steve, let us go” “Ok, here
goes” May said as she got on Ruby. Steve followed May and sat behind her.
As soon as Steve was on Ruby, it began to
move upward. After a few moments, they were flying. Five minutes
later, they reached Ruby’s town. Ruby landed on top of a rock which
looked like a mushroom. It let May and Steve off of its body.
Ruby said, "This is my town” “You
may walk around, if you like” it added. “Ok, let us do it” said
Steve in an eager tone. He wanted to see more rocks. May walked
along side Steve.
Ruby was walking with them on its way
to a nearby cave. Ruby led the group to her cave. Inside the cave,
there were many small rocks. These small stones were identical to those
of the ones that May had on her restaurant door. “Hey, these rocks look
similar to your rocks on your restaurant door” said Steve to May as they looked
around.
The walls of the cave were covered with
round shaped rocks. “Hey Ruby, this place is cool” said Steve.
“Yes, it is” agreed May. “Can we visit again?” asked May. “Of course”
said Ruby. “Now, May and I believe you. We had to see for
ourselves” said Steve.
“What do you eat?” asked May. “I eat
rock candy” said Ruby. “I have some right next to me” it added. The
rock candy was round and had a whole in the middle of it. The candy was
small and grey. Ruby showed May and Steve the food it ate. Steve asked,
“What do you drink?” “I drink lavawater” Ruby replied.
“Wow! This is very interesting” said
Steve. “I have never seen so many rock-looking eggs” he
added. “Yes, there are lots of eggs here” said Ruby as it
moved to an empty corner in the cave. Suddenly, Ruby shifted into a
nest-like shape. It grabbed a few rock eggs and placed them under it, so
that the eggs were under it.
After a few minutes, Steve and May heard a
cracking sound. “Uh oh” said May. “Ruby was right” she added. ”It
is alright” said Ruby. Steve said, “I think we should leave Ruby”
“No” said May. “We should try to help” she added. “Ruby, where can we
find rock candy and lavawater?” asked May. “You can find lavawater in a
lake. The lake is outside this cave. You can find rock candy on a
tree. You also find that outside this cave” Ruby responded.
May said, “I am leaving this cave to get some food and drink for Ruby”
“Ok, I will stay here and keep Ruby company” said Steve. “That will be
fine” said May as she walked toward the cave opening.
Now outside the cave, May looked around and
saw that there were trees nearby. She walked to the closest tree and saw
that the fruit looked like rock candy. May decided to pick some fruit off
of the tree. She placed the rock candy in her pants pocket. May
walked on a little farther and spotted a lake full of lavawater. “This is
different” thought May as she saw a round like container by the lake. She
picked it up and filled it with lavawater. May wanted to walk farther on, but
thought better of it. She walked back towards the direction of Ruby’s
cave, carrying the container. It was full of lavawater.
Moments later, May entered the cave.
She gave the container and the candy to Ruby. Ruby ate and drank.
Steve, May, and Ruby became the best of friends. May and Steve both
learned not to judge by appearance. Just because Ruby looked like a
monster, does not mean it was.
The End
