Mike Fuller went through the empty house to make sure it was ready for its new owners.
The previous owners, the Scott family, had put the house up for sale after Ken was transfered to a new job in a different city. Ken and Julia had spent most of their time getting their family ready - their oldest, 9-year old Janet, was at the age where moving was a real trauma, and their 3-year old twins, Jonny and Karyn, were a handful. And with Julia pregnant again, she was easily exhausted, so Mike had handled the details of the sale for them.
The Scotts were gone now, though, and the new owners were ready to move in, so Mike was examining the place once more just to satisfy himslef everything was OK.
It was while going through one of the bedrooms that he spotted something in the corner. There, gleaming in the afternoon sun, was a shiny rock of some sort. Feeling curious, Mike picked it up. It was of medium size, and seemed to shift in color as hae gazed at it.
"Guess you got left behind," he said with a smile. It looked like something one of the Scotts' kids had found - one of the things children put inestimable value on for no apparent reason. Shrugging, he stuck the stone in his pocket and forgot about it.
A few days later, Mike was showing another house. The prospective client was nattering on and on, criticizing this and that, not listening )apparently) to the patient explanations Mike gave, and generally wasting his time (Mike cold feel this one wasn't going to buy, period). Annoyed, Mike stuck his hand in his pockets. Absently fingering a small stone he found there, he muttered, "I really wish..."
