"Jon, slow down," Karyn said, over her cellphone. "Tell me what's wrong. Slowly."
"It's gone. I don't know how, but it's gone."
"What's gone?"
"The stone! What do you think I'm talking about?!"
"No need to yell, Jon."
"Sorry. It's just that it was here when I went to bed, and now it's gone. I don't know how, but I think someone took it."
"How's that possible? No one even knew about it, except for us. Did you tell anyone about it?"
"No. Did you?"
"No." Karyn paused. "Okay. I'll be right over. We can search for it together."
Meanwhile, Derek and his new best friend arrived at Chris' house. There was a large tree that grew just outside his bedroom window. He had climbed it before, but never to get to his window. But the branches were long enough that he could make it. He climbed up and crawled across one of the larger branches. It stopped a few feet from his window. But it was close enough that he could open his window (which he always left unlocked) and jump onto the ledge. And that's what he did.
He looked around his bedroom. He saw it all in a different light now. His sports trophies met nothing to him anymore. And all the troubles that came with them suddenly hit him like a tidal wave. He didn't know how he could have coped with all the troubles he had. He felt so small and insignificant.
He shook his head, trying to clear it, as if that would remove all of his misery. But it didn't. He quickly grabbed his books and put them in his duffle bag. Then he left, the same way he came in, making sure that he closed the window before he climbed down the tree.
"Let's go," Chris said.
Inside his house, his parents were fixing breakfast.
"Have you seen Chris this morning?" his mom asked his dad.
"I think he went out running."
"He didn't come back?"
His dad put down the newspaper he was reading. "I don't know. I didn't see him come back."
Chris' mom put down her plate of food and walked upstairs. His bedroom door was unlocked, so she opened it. Seeing that her son's books and duffle bag were gone, she assumed that he had already left for school. But it was odd. Why didn't he stay for breakfast? He always did before.
