Both Jon and Karyn dashed for the rock, kicking up clouds of sand in their wake. The crowd had their backs facing towards them, so nobody saw the fight that was about to happen.
In a mad dash, Jon and Karyn tore across the beach, pushing and shoving each other as they ran. They both reached the rock simultaneously, but Jon, having a bit more girth than Karyn, slammed into her and knocked her off balance. She immediately fell backwards.
In a last act of desperation, Karyn hooked her feet around Jon's right ankle. Jon hobbled forward and then awkwardly plunged into the sand face first. The beach was now total chaos and seagulls were flying everywhere, squawking and crying.
Karyn scurried onto her belly, reached over, and grabbed Jon's leg. She looked over his shoulder and saw that he was only inches away from the rock. Jon, grinding his teeth, reached out his arm in an attempt to grab it, yet, just as his fingers graced the edges of the stone, Karyn planted her heels into the ground and with all her weight, pulled Jon backwards.
Jon's hand slid off the rock. He looked back at Karyn to see her reaching for his head. Using Jon's body as leverage, Karyn grabbed Jon's hair, yanked on it, and pulled herself to her feet. Jon screamed in agony as his neck was forced backwards.
Karyn darted for the rock.
Thinking quickly, Jon scooped up a handful of sand and blasted Karyn in the face. Karyn gasped. Blindly, she stumbled forwards. She couldn't see a thing and the debris that now filled her eyes had begun to sting. In a panic, she dropped to her knees and swept the ground with her hands. Jon would be on her in seconds. This was her chance. This was it. She could faintly see Jon's shadow approaching. Violently, she continued her search.
Suddenly...
she felt a tiny, smooth object pass under the palm of her right hand.
She peeled open her eyelids. Her hand was resting on a dark aberration.
"Yes," she whispered to herself, "I've got it."
She grabbed the stone and held it up.
"I wish Jon was asleep!"
Silence seemed to fall over the beach. The Beach Patrol had broken up the crowd and they had escorted the two unfortunate people away. Everything seemed back to normal.
But then she heard laughing.
Karyn wiped her eyes. Slowly, her sight returned and slowly she regained focus.
She was holding somebody's lost, black cell phone.
A wave of nervous anxiety cascaded through her body as she looked over to see Jon holding the rock.
"Karyn, Karyn, Karyn," Jon said smugly, "you certainly showed your true colors today."
Karyn's eyes began to water up. "Jon please... don't do this."
"You are a greedy person Karyn. Honestly, I thought you were better than that. I thought, that if there was one person I could trust with this rock, it was you. I guess I was wrong."
"Jon please..."
"Well... now it's time for you to learn a few lessons. I'm gonna have fun with you Karyn. I'm going to manipulate you and embarass you and well... I'm going to redesign you. And when it's all over, you'll probably be grateful."
"Jon... no..."
"I wish..."
