Jon awoke lazily. A dreamless night with apparently no trouble in the morning, he allowed himself to enjoy the familiar warm embrace of the blankets a little more, it would be a few more minutes before Mom usually comes to force him awake, anyways.
Yet, he felt somewhat odd. He stirred, and felt nothing different in the way his arms or legs felt against the shifting fabric of the blanket. He sighed, his chest rising in the given familiar way he expected and the air entering and exiting his lungs the usual manner, maybe with a bit of a morning congestion but that too wasn't out of the ordinary. He shifted his body to lie face up, eyes still closed, the subtle beating of his heart made a bit more audible to him but otherwise, nothing seemed out of place.
There still was this weird odd feeling, almost indescribable, that something was different. Just enough difference for him to sit up, tossing the covers aside harshly and open his eyes.
He looked himself over and to his surprise… He was completely normal, still male, same age, same build, same race and even same comfy boxers that he went to sleep with. He stood up and lazily pulled the curtain, "yep yawn same house and neighborhood…" he averted his gaze up, seeing a normal yellow sun in the sky, nothing weird happening to it, "not that the sun would be in range anyways" he quipped.
Deciding to move on with his morning, Jon picked up a set of casual-wear clothes for the day. He opened the cupboard below the one where the stone was kept, scouring through the also unchanged selection of upper and lower wear, he decided to select something a bit more distinguished for today.
"Might as well look cool today." Jon grinned, sliding onto a pair of white chino pants. "After all, clothes make the man and…" he closed his eyes as he slid a black T-shirt over his frame. "It's not like someone that looks like an average Joe would be worthy of the power of the Stone." He moved to his wardrobe and opened it with gusto. In between the usual hanged clothes was a sleeveless red vest hanged neatly on a black perch,
"Isn't that right, Grandpa?"
On his way downstairs, Jon started to scour the house for any more possible changes that… to everyone’s surprise… still proved nonexistent.
Zoe was heading her way to the bathroom, still the same goth fashion sense (yes, even the pajamas) and attitude. A little surprised about Jon’s early awakening she gave him a light “hmph” of acknowledgement and entered then closed the bathroom door. The two usually really ever interacted in the morning when either of them needed the restroom for themselves, with the other being adamant of taking their time in there out of pride more than anything, this habit later planting the seeds for a light sibling rivalry. Maybe he could wish for another restroom later, but that’s the coward’s way. Having had a night shower yesterday, he decided to move on.
Entering the living room ,his little brother Mikey sat on the floor, glued to the morning cartoons as someone would expect for a kid his age. Jon never paid attention to what shows kids these days had on TV, if something changed there it's not likely he could tell, still, he made an effort to discreetly overhear the show. "Something about a Megawhat? Megawatt?" Best to give it up, it looked similar to one or other cartoons he saw him watch often, so he guessed nothing important changed there.
Lastly, he walked towards the door, and saw his mother give his father a kiss goodbye, him preparing to head off his usual commute to work. Heading out through the main door, he quickly waved goodbye to both his sons present and made haste, closing the door behind him.
"Well, someone decided to have a reasonable sleep schedule for the day!" Mom teased, hands on hips in a mock disgruntlement. "Good morning to you too Mom." Jon said, trying to play straight man to her rhetoric
"Oh and fully dressed too, who are you and what have you made with my…" she paused, noticing the vest. "That's…"
"Grandpa's old vest, figured I might as well start wearing it a little more often." Jon said a bit gingerly looking at her mother's peppiness dissolving into a bittersweet smile. "I'm sure he would have loved to see you with it Jon, that vest did always complement that adventurous spirit of his… when he was around." His mother sighed a bit wistfully, a bit of a crackle in her tone at that last part.
Jon felt a tad choked up about that remark, but steered himself. Grandpa couldn't be dead, he just felt it in his bones, even if the note didn't want to give him a straight answer, he would find out by himself. In fact, he could do so today, with the power of the stone. There was no other wish he wanted to try out more than one that would give him some answers about that old man's whereabouts. But how to wish that up…
"Jon…? Is everything alright?" his mother interjected. "Huh? oh yeah sorry just a bit… sleepy." Jon snapped from his train of thought. "Well I have a small… project to take care of so uh, mind if I take breakfast to my room?"
Mom looked a bit concerned at her son's odd behavior, but relented and nodded. grabbing a plate with some cheese and fruit slices and a glass of milk, Jon headed back to the stairs, but as he stepped on his way up, his mother called out "Sweetie, we all miss him and that's normal, but I want you to know, whatever you're going through you don't need to deal with it alone."
Jon winced a bit at that. "Yeah, yeah don't worry" If only she knew, it was sad to see her mourning, in what Jon believed, no, knew was a man still living."You take care of yourself too, you hear?" Jon gave a semi resolute smile as he started his way upstairs. That's it, today he'd make things right, and it'd all start with the stone upstairs.
