The Mystic Rock of Erehwon

The elders whispered the story of the Mystic Rock of Erehwon.  How it appeared one day out of the mist on the edge of the dark woods.  No one really knew how it got there, only that they awoke to find the rock glowing in a mix of dazzling colors that drew everyone toward it in awe.  Stories handed down from elders to their off springs, often spoken in hushed tones, told of the day young Garwain of Sanderhorn, a wayward boy of around thirteen years old, stepped up to the glowing rock and touched it and immediately fell to the ground as though dead.  Despite the many potent herbs and fervent chants that the elders and medicine men applied day and night, young Garwain did not awake from his slumber until six months later.  Even then the boy could not say what had happened to him.  Everything remained a mystery.

Everyone kept their distance from the rock from that day on and no one else dared to go near it. Whispers of the immense and terrible power of the rock persisted until they became a deafening call for it to be destroyed.  All were afraid and none was brave enough to step up and smash it.

The Mystic Rock of Erehwon sat still, at the edge of the dark woods, a symbol of fear and dread.  Children refused to go near it.  Women going about their daily chores avoided it, men crept fearfully past it, afraid that the same fate that befell young Garwain would visit them also.  The rock sat, with a little less glow than there was before.  Still, no one dared to approach it.

The Mystic Rock of Erehwon sat, unmoved, but no longer at the edge of the dark woods.  The dark woods have long given way to a town, with wooden buildings, dirt roads, horse-drawn carriages, and more people.  Somehow, amidst all the development, nothing touched the imposing rock.  The warnings passed down from generation to generation remained firmly etched in the hearts of every person living in the town.  In the Town Square, a crude wooden sign proclaimed, “ By Decree of the Council of Elders, no one must touch, or go near the Mystic Rock of Erehwon.  He who toucheth this rock shall surely perish!”

Sitting in the heart of the growing town, the Mystic Rock of Erehwon remained an imposing symbol of the forbidden and the feared.  Even the youngest toddler knew better than to approach this giant and touch it.  The town folk went about their daily lives, not looking at the rock for fear that it will somehow strike down anyone who dared to gaze upon its now dull and gray visage.

Still, it sat amidst the bustling movement of the growing town, which had developed into a more modern place with paved roads, cars, and sturdier buildings.  The Mystic Rock looked on as the town was overtaken by a dreaded epidemic that took hundreds of lives.  Still, the Mystic Rock sat as a new generation took over the town, much of the early whispered stories forgotten. Children touched the rock for the first time since Young Garwain so long ago.  Nothing happened.  No one fell to the ground in a stupor.  The Mystic Rock of Erehwon became a favorite spot for children who played during the day, and for young lovers who stole kisses within its shadows at night.

Then one night, a jealous lover, suspecting that his lady was out by the rock with someone else, crept toward its shadows and in a fit of rage struck her down along with her hapless companion.  The entire town erupted in outrage.  The wicked man must die and the rock destroyed!  The angry mob, armed with tools of various kind descended upon the Mystic Rock of Erehwon and broke it to pieces.  The rock could not resist, for, after all this time, it had none of its awesome power that there was before.

The pebble-sized glow within the rubble that was the Mystic Rock of Erehwon went unnoticed by the tired townsfolk as they returned to their homes after their mission of destruction.  It would have been lost had it not been for a little girl who found it one morning while playing alone among the stones.
 
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“I like your pendant!  Wow, look at the way the stone glows.”, the high school junior said as she handled the pendant around the neck of a petite blond.

The blond replied with a laugh, “Oh, you mean this old thing?  My grandmother gave it to me before she died last year.  Said she found it among some stones while she played.” 

“It looks like something special.  What is it?”, the other girl asked.

“I don't know and no one can tell me anything about it”, the blond sighed.