On the way to the mall, Hart's stone detector showed that a fourth stone had been detected. But it was three miles out of town. The one at the mall was closer, so he kept going.
"What the hell are you doing in there?" the old man asked.
"Dad, I told you. I came by to borrow some lawn equipment," Chris Thompson said to his father.
"Use yer own," his father bitterly said.
Chris sighed. "Dad. Some of this stuff I bought for you. Remember?"
"Well, uh ..."
"It's almost mine to begin with."
"Whatever ..." he trailed off, then went back inside the house.
Chris watched him go, then shook his head and went back inside the shed. Every now and then he had to fan the dusty air away from his eyes. How long was all this stuff in here and was it ever even used? He saw equipment that must have been 30 years old. He could have sworn he remembered his dad buying it when he himself was in high school. He groaned, then moved the equipment out of the way to make it easier to get the newer equipment out. But when he did, his eyes spotted an odd-looking stone sitting on the floor of the shed. It was just a small stone, but it had a weird blue tint to it. As he was looking at it, a piece of dust flew into his eye. "Damn dust," he said, waving his hand around in the air, trying to clear it all away. Then suddenly the blue stone glowed and the air inside the shed became completely dust-free. Even the dust that had gotten into his eye was gone.
"Did you just do that?" he asked the stone. Then looked up. "What am I doing? I'm talking to a stone?"
He walked out of the shed and saw that the sun was going down. He liked it when there were a few clouds on the horizon reflecting the late-day sunlight. But today it was totally clear. He put his hand up over his eyes, like a visor. The sun wasn't down just yet and it was still a little too bright to be looking at it. And then, just like in the shed, the stone glowed. Suddenly, on the horizon, there were clouds. Just like what Chris imagined in his mind. Almost exactly.
Was it possible? Could it be that Chris had the power to change the weather? He pointed at the sky directly above him and thought of a cloud. The stone glowed and a cloud appeared directly above him, looking very similar to the one he pictured in his head. He pointed at his dad's house, thinking of it being painted blue instead of green, but nothing happened. This was proof enough that the stone would only allow him to change the weather and not just anything. But Chris wasn't disappointed. To have the power to change the weather was like ... well ... it was almost god-like.
He clenched the stone in his hand and smiled, thinking of all the possibilities.
