Palmstone Academy - Hollyrock – 10 Years Later

The doors opened and silence greeted the Rubbles as they entered the posh Palmstone Academy. Not a soul was in sight, not even the children they had been called to come pick up for infractions that were contradictory to the private school's many regulations.

Pebbles Rubble gave her husband a worried look, "Oh Bammer, I'm worried about what kind of trouble Chip and Roxy have gotten themselves into now," she said in a worried voice.

"Don't worry, Pebs, we'll help them as we always do," Bamm Bamm replied as he took her hand and led her through the foyer of the school towards the large office area.

Pebbles nodded, but remained silent as they approached the office; she had always been so uneasy about sending Chip and Roxy to private school, but with the skyrocketing of their careers, other parents at their respective jobs had encouraged them to think of their kids.

Against their better judgment, Pebbles and Bamm Bamm had looked into Palmstone Academy; the school's advertisements had boasted excellent academic and athletic opportunities for those of high privilege lifestyles. With the children's unique qualities, however, maybe it had been a bad idea.

Pebbles smoothed down her pink animal print dress as she and Bamm Bamm, who was dressed in a smart green tunic covered by a dark jacket. They could see a well-dressed secretary sitting at a marble desk with an untouched typewriter in front of her while she worked on her hair and makeup.

"Excuse me, we're the Rubbles," Bamm Bamm stated in a worried voice. "We were called—"

The secretary gave them a patronizing look, "Oh, you're the Rubbles," she said in a snooty voice as she looked them up and down with a condescending sneer. "You can go right in to the Headmaster's office."

Pebbles and Bamm Bamm exchanged a concerned look and moved into the office complex; they had no trouble finding the shale door that led into Principal Shale's office; they had been here much too often.

Bedrock High School – Bedrock

A single figure sat in a small classroom that was referred to among both students and staff as the 'resource room.' He sat at a table in the corner of the room, hunched over a slate and quietly chiseling away. His blond hair hid his face from view. The teacher, Miss Chisel, lingered nearby, watching him.

The bell rang, signaling the end of classes and the end of school for another day.

As the many students of Bedrock High filed out of the many classrooms, the blond figure stopped working and lifted his head, revealing the handsome face of Stoney Flintstone.

Stoney looked anxiously at Miss Chisel, who gave the young student a reassuring smile; the school day was indeed over. He knew he looked gentle and appealing enough in his blue tunic and dark jacket, but he didn't feel that way.

"Stoney, good work today," Miss Chisel said in a calming tone as she watched Stoney hop up from the chair and put his work in a small shoulder bag. "Now, remember, finals are coming up very soon."

Stoney nodded and slung his bag over his shoulder, "Thank you, Miss Chisel," he replied in a sincere tone as he moved towards the door. "I'll study during my breaks at the quarry tonight."

"Good," Miss Chisel replied in a relieved tone. "Now, the teacher supervising your finals is very nice and all you should do is study hard and relax. You've been doing so well with your work this semester."

Stoney smiled; he was relieved that along with his normal classes, he was able to spend an extensive amount of time in the school resource room. As much as he tried to do well, not everything was easy.

As Miss Chisel waved, Stoney smiled and quickly hurried out of the classroom; he quickly gravitated through the hallway and out the door as fast as he could. A blue sky and warm air greeted him.

"Yabba Dabba Doo!" Stoney shouted in a gleeful voice as he ran to, jumped on, and slid down the dinosaur staircase that led from the school entrance to the street below. Today was a very good day.

Stoney grinned and, gazing back up at the school, he ran to catch a city bus out to the quarry.

"Fighting again?" Pebbles asked, her voice full of shock and anger as she gave Roxy and Chip the sternest look she had the energy to muster. "Your father and I have told you that fighting is WRONG."

Chip shrugged, but Roxy immediately pouted, "Mother, really, it was justified," she said in a whiny tone as she played with her snow-white hair and gazed at her mother. "How else do I fend off lovesick boys?"

At that comment, Bamm Bamm did not look amused, "I wasn't fighting," Chip suddenly cut in. "I was just hanging out with some friends in the front courtyard and we were looking over some of the textbooks."

"The Raptors are one of the school's gangs," Principal Shale spat, his voice full of utter disgust. "I was doing my daily rounds of the school and its campus when I came upon your son and several of the Raptors socializing at one of the fountains and chiseling the most offensive things into the sidewalk! When I scolded them, I realized that they were also chiseling offensive words into a math textbook!"

Pebbles suddenly looked infuriated, "I assure you, Principal Shale, the textbook and the sidewalk damage will be paid for out of Chip's allowance," she said in an angry tone. "Isn't that right, Chip?"

"I'm saving my money for a new bike," Chip replied hotly. "I hate this school anyway. I want to drop out of school and go work for Shelly Millstone like Dad does. Actors don't need to go to school."

Bamm Bamm almost looked amused, "I don't act Chip," he replied. "I merely write scripts for her."

"Ahem," Principal Shale interrupted in an impatient voice. "Now, Mr. and Mrs. Rubble, I do understand that you are both very busy in your careers; however, maybe Palmstone is not the right sort of educational environment for your children. Might I suggest looking into a different school for in the fall?"

For a moment, there was silence as Pebbles and Bamm Bamm looked at each other, both of them unsure how to react, "I believe you mentioned that you and your husband come from a place called Bedrock, Mrs. Rubble?" Principal Shale finally spoke, amazed at how the meeting was progressing.

Pebbles nodded, but said nothing, "Perhaps it would benefit your children to spend some time in a less adventurous environment?" Principal Shale suggested in a firm voice. "I highly recommend it."

"We'll contact our parents and discuss that possibility with them," Pebbles replied. "Right, Bamm Bamm?"

Bamm Bamm nodded, "We'll call them tonight," he said in a firm tone. "Is there anything else?"

"No, just take them home for the day please," Principal Shale replied crossly. "Good bye."

Letting out a distressed sigh, Bamm Bamm got to his feet, "C'mon kids, let's go," he said in a resigned voice. "I have to work on my writing when we get home and your mother has a meeting tonight."

"Thank you for your time, Principal Shale," Pebbles said as she got to her feet. "See you later."

Principal Shale sighed and silently watched as the four Rubbles left his office; life was so difficult.

"Stoney, you're early today," Fred commented in a pleasant voice as he saw his son come into the company locker room with his backpack slung over one shoulder. "How was school?"

Stoney smiled as he walked over to his locker and opened it, "About the same," he replied in a kind voice as he put his backpack in, took out his turtle shell helmet, and shut the door. "Finals are coming up."

Fred nodded as Stoney walked over to him, "Where's Mister Rubble at?" Stoney asked as he followed his father out of the locker room and into the upper part of the quarry. "Don't you two work together?"

"Barney was called into a meeting with Mr. Slate," Fred replied calmly. "He IS Mr. Slate's nephew."

Stoney nodded, turned away, and silently gazed into the large gravel pit where several dinosaur cranes were already at work making the pit bigger. He was dreading telling his parents that he spent more time in the resource room instead of the classroom because of social anxieties and learning difficulties.

He was already behind his age curve for not starting school until he was seven and as he got older, it got harder.

"Stoney, are you all right?" Fred asked, concerned by how quiet Stoney had gotten. "Wanna talk?"

Stoney sighed, turned to his father, and shook his head, "No, I'm all right," he replied in a nervous voice, wanting to live up to what was expected of him. "Anyway, I should really get the rock truck running."

"The rock truck broke down yesterday," Barney said as he came out of Mr. Slate's office. "Mister Slate said that he wants you to get some tools out of the supply shed and take the express elevator into the pit to fix it. After the truck's fixed, Mister Slate wants you to go do your homework for the rest of your shift."

Nodding, Stoney hurried over to the shed without a word, "Something's bothering him," Fred commented, a concerned expression on his face as he watched Stoney get a box of tools out of the shed.

"Ah, Fred, Stoney's never found it easy to talk about his feelings," Barney replied, knowing that Stoney would only talk whenever he felt like it. "Mister Slate wants us to go work on digging out the north pit…"

Meanwhile, Stoney had made it to the express elevator and was now quietly waiting for the door to come back to the top so he could go down and do his job. The door quickly arrived at the top and Stoney boarded the elevator, relieved that he didn't have to make conversation with any of his father's friends.

As the elevator lurched to the bottom of the pit, a skinny young man climbed up into an aged dinosaur crane and immediately got on to his cell-phone. The worker, who was known as Skip Ratrock around the quarry for the short time he had been there, was already on probation for numerous safety violations.

Stoney knew none of this, however, as he had only been taken on as an after school repair/errands boy a month ago after his guidance counselor had encouraged him to seek interests outside of school. He was focused on doing the job he was assigned to do and then he would retreat back to his world of books.

"Seriously, I can't imagine you wanting to keep this quarry," Boulder Ratrock said in an amused voice as he stood at the window of the company boardroom and watched the work. "It's a waste of a space."

At the head of the table, Mr. Slate sighed and fought hard to keep his temper in check, "As I have told you before, Mister Ratrock, this quarry gives people work," he said in a firm voice. "When Bedrock actually has a need for such a thing as you are proposing, I might be willing to consider your offer; not right now."

"Filling the pit with water and building condos around the site will attract more of the right people to Bedrock," Skip replied in an amused voice. "You can retire in Acapulco with a cozy little nest egg."

Mr. Slate gave Skip a look, "You'll have a nest egg on your head if you don't get out of my office and let me get some work done," he said in a stern voice. "I don't have time to listen to any more nonsense."

Skip scowled, "Don't come crawling to me when you find yourself in over your head," he said in a pouty voice as he stalked off towards the door. "I gave you an offer and you refused it; consider it gone."

As Skip opened the door, walked out, and slammed the door behind him, Mr. Slate sighed wearily.

"Maybe I should get some glasses," Stoney muttered to himself as he squinted at the smaller parts in the engine of the rock truck to see if there was anything on them. "It's getting tougher and tougher to do this."

Even as he worked, though, Stoney knew that his eyesight was fine; it was his shame and his desire not to be stuck as a repairman for the rest of his life that was distracting him. After helping his parents and the Rubbles do repair jobs when he was old enough, Stoney had found his niche, but he wanted much more.

"…Nah, that pile of skin and bones is repairing junk around the pit again," Skip's voice carried over.

Stoney sighed and stood up to grab a wrench from the box to tighten a few bolts before he tested the engine; a few bolts must have come loose when the night shifter was driving it, he silently reasoned.

"...Ratrock, get off the cell-phone and get back to working that bronto crane!" Fred yelled as he and Barney got off the express elevator and walked over to their bronto cranes. "That's a safety…"

Skip Ratrock scoffed, "…That fatso Flintstone is bothering me, so I have to go," he hissed into the cell-phone as he leaned forward, unaware that he was slowly shifting the brake out of gear.

As Skip hung up and leaned back to put the phone away, the bronto crane suddenly jerked backwards and nearly threw Skip out of his workstation as it released the rock that had been sitting in its mouth.

"RUN, STONEY, RUN!" Fred yelled in an anxious voice, seeing that the rock was headed right for the truck that Stoney was working on. Fred swallowed hard and began to run towards the truck to help.

Unfortunately, the rock slammed down on top of the truck and sent both Stoney and the toolbox flying across the gravel pit into a rock wall. As Stoney fell face first on to the ground, the toolbox came down hard on his left leg, shattered, and covered the lower half of his body with several unused tools.

"Oww," Stoney whispered as he lay there in both shock and pain at what had just happened to him.

Incredibly alarmed, Fred immediately hurried over to where his son lay, "Just lay still, Stoney," he said in a reassuring voice as he knelt down next to his son. "Barney's gonna go get some help for you."

Barney shot a glare at Skip, "Report to Slate's office right now," Barney said in a mean voice. "I mean it."

Skip took off at a run towards the express elevator. Barney swallowed hard and reached for the walkie talkie that he and other workers now had on their new work belts in case anything ever happened. Now was the time to use it.

"Medical emergency in North Pit One," was the last thing Stoney heard before passing into oblivion.

Does anyone wanna read and review?