Flash Fiction Entries

The Rock

The Rock


Pedaling as fast as his bicycle would go, Joey sped through the pine trees along the wooded trail, determined not to be late for supper again. Last night his mom had warned him. “Joey, if you’re late again, it’s no bicycle for a month.” His dad had nodded his head in agreement.

With his legs feeling like lead, he coasted down a small hill into a broad meadow. Beyond the grass, just visible in the twilight, the lights in his house started to shine through the windows. Out of the corner of his eye, Joey saw another kind of light flickering.

“What the heck is that?” he wondered out loud. “It looks like a shooting star. Maybe I’ll get my wish to be home on time,” he chuckled.

After riding several more yards, he heard a whizzing sound. Looking up, something hit his forehead and crashed into his helmet, knocking him off his bicycle. "Ouch, what the heck was that?"

Sprawled in the bushes, he sat up, shook himself off, and realized his bike helmet was about to fall off his head. Carefully removing the helmet, he used his sleeve to wipe off a little smear of blood from his hairline. His heart started pounding as he spotted a dim light in a hole in the dirt. He could see the very tip of a dark, pointed object. Digging it out with his fingers, Joey held it up to the moonlight to get a better look. It was not very big, just an ugly, old black rock; but as he touched it, it was warm and sort of glowing.

“Wow, it must be a piece of that shooting star, a meteorite! Wait until I tell Mom and Dad.”

Joey jumped up, but, feeling a little nauseous and lightheaded, he immediately sat back down for a few minutes. He put the rock in his helmet and draped the chinstrap over the handlebars. After the sick feeling went away, he started pedaling for home as fast as he could.

Bursting in the front door, Joey shouted, “Mom, Dad! A shooting star hit me.”

Joey’s mom and dad came rushing out of the kitchen to see what the ruckus was.

“What happened, Sweetie?” Joey’s mom asked.

Joey explained what had happened and pointed to the wound on his forehead. His mother came closer to look.

“Joey, there’s nothing wrong with your forehead. If this is all a ploy for being late for supper again, you’re in big trouble.”

“But, Mom, it’s the truth. There was blood on my forehead. Here, look at my shirtsleeve." Joey held up his sleeve, but he could not find the blood he had wiped on it. "I know it was cut. It was bleeding. And look at the rock, Mom, and look at my helmet.”

Joey pulled the meteorite out of his helmet and handed them both to his mom, but by now, the glow and heat from the rock were fading, almost nonexistent.

“Let me see that, Doris,” said Joey’s dad, reaching for the rock He turned it over in his hands and then looked at the big dent in Joey’s helmet.

“Well, obviously something happened here. Did you just fall off your bike hurrying home, Joey?”

“No, Dad, honest. I’m telling you the truth. A meteorite hit me and knocked me off my bicycle.”

“Joey, this looks like any old rock to me, and nothing’s wrong with your forehead. The fact is you are late for supper again so your bike is now off limits to you. Go wash up. Your grandmother has been asking for you so go up and say hello to her before you eat.”

“But, Dad...."

“No buts. Do it now, Joey.”

The decision made, Joey’s mom and dad returned to the kitchen to finish their supper while Joey went upstairs to wash and see his grandmother.

Joey’s grandmother, crippled with arthritis, sat near a window in a wheelchair. She had finished her dinner and was resting as Joey came into her room. She took one look at Joey’s downcast face and knew something was wrong.

“What’s the matter, Joey? Come over here and tell me all about it.”

Joey commenced telling her everything that had happened including losing the freedom to ride his bicycle. He knelt by her side and with tears rolling down his cheeks, he laid his head in her lap.

“Th…They don’t believe me. It was a meteorite.”

Joey lay there until he stopped crying. He loved his grandmother very much, and just being near her comforted him.

“I believe you, Joey. Lots stranger things than that have happened. It is odd about your forehead, though. Let me see.”

She put her hands on each side of Joey’s face and looked at his forehead but saw no evidence of a wound. As she was holding his face in her hands, they began to tingle. Her knobby, arthritic fingers began to straighten and look years younger. Even her legs were tingling and feeling stronger. She tried to stand up. She looked at Joey in disbelief. Keeping her hands on the arms of her wheelchair for support, she straightened to her full height. Tentatively, she took one step….then another. She was walking. It was a miracle. Joey must have absorbed some kind of healing power from that meteorite. That explained his disappearing cut.

Joey could not believe his eyes. He almost fell down the steps in his haste to tell his mom and dad.

“Mom. Dad. Come quick. Grandmom is walking!”

Together, they ran back upstairs to see Grandmother walking by herself. She was positively glowing with happiness.


No one knew for sure what happened that day the meteorite hit Joey, but his mom and dad knew he had been telling the truth. Unfortunately, his healing power worked only on his grandmother, but that was more than enough for Joey and his family. Years later, Joey never tired of telling his children about that special “rock”.


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