Chapter 2

The Blue Stone

It was morning and Chris was still sleeping in bed. Usually, he would've slammed the snooze button on his alarm clock a couple of times before he had to get up and go to work. Chris was not a morning person and whenever he woke up in the morning he could usually be an angry bear. He was snoring in his sleep and drool was landing on his pillow as he had his mouth opened. No work meant sleeping in.

Chris then felt something get on him and he startled awake when he felt claws scratching him on his back. He looked up and he was face to face with the freaky cat. Chris growled as he could feel Dragon's claws scratching him pretty badly. He then heard the back of his shirt rip and he immediately knew that Dragon ruined his shirt. Chris was furious.

He grabbed Dragon roughly and Dragon yowled as Chris got up and carried him out of the room and Dragon was scratching at him. Chris dropped the cat outside the guest room. "Stupid cat," Chris said and he then slammed the door.

Chris then rubbed his temples and growled again because not only did Dragon wake him up at a bad time but he also gave him scratch marks on his back and his arms and he could feel blood getting on him and making a mess. He thought it would've been a whole lot better if they had a dog instead of a cat because then at least it wouldn't have scratched him as Dragon did. Where did they even find Dragon at?

He sighed and decided to go take a shower just so he could get the blood off him and it did sting him but he held in the pain he was feeling just by clenching his teeth just so he wouldn't sound like a wuss. He was relieved when he found bandages in the bathroom after his very painful shower and he started to apply them on him and he had problems getting bandages on his back but he somehow managed to get them on there. He then blow-dried his hair and after he did that he then put his clothes on and made his way back to the guest room.

When he got to the guest room he pulled out his Kodak camera from under his bed. He made sure he had film in it and that everything was in place. He wanted to get some good photos in and he hoped that these would be good enough photos for his career.

He slipped the strap around his neck and made his way downstairs and as he made his way downstairs he could smell breakfast. He walked into the kitchen and he saw his Aunt Beth cooking up some fried eggs, some crunchy bacon, and some crispy toast. She was also brewing up some coffee. He then saw his Uncle Paul and his cousin already sitting at the table and Paul was reading the newspaper.

Chris pulled out a chair and sat down just as his Aunt Beth was setting breakfast on the table. "Good morning, Chris," Beth said. "Did you sleep well last night?"

"Yeah, I did," Chris said.

Chris noticed that his Aunt was looking at his arms with her eyes widened. "Chris, what happened to your arms?"

Chris put his arms under the table. "Oh, Dragon scratched me this morning while I was trying to get him out of my room." He didn't want to mention the part about Dragon scratching his back.

Paul flipped another page in the newspaper. "I was wondering why Dragon was making a lot of noise upstairs."

"I'm so sorry, Chris," Beth said. "I'll make sure he doesn't get into your room again. He's outside right now so you won't have to worry about him for now."

"That's alright, Aunt Beth," Chris said, even though he knew it wasn't. His thoughts transferred from Dragon to the food that was on the table and he started to smell the tasty breakfast. "This smells really good."

Beth smiled at Chris. "Thank you, Chris. I'm sure you'll find it really good once you start eating."

Beth then sat down and everyone started to eat their breakfast. This was a very good and healthy breakfast for Chris. When he was back in the city he usually ordered his food or made his food from the cans or the boxed food. He really needed to learn how to cook real food and not just the store-bought ones.

"Can I play a game with Chris today?" Billy asked.

"Not right at the moment, young man," Beth said. "You're going to help your Father with some farm work and when you get some of it done then you can play a game with Chris."

Chris took a sip from his coffee just so he wouldn't blurt out that he didn't want to play a game with Billy and he knew it would've been rude to say that out loud.

Billy looked at Paul. "Dad, do I have to?"

Paul looked up from his newspaper to Billy. "Yes, you do. Now finish up your breakfast so we can get some work done."

Billy looked down disappointed. "Fine…"

Beth looked at the camera Chris had around his neck. "That's a very nice camera, Chris. Are you going to take some pictures?"

Chris swallowed down a piece of bacon and he nodded. "Thanks, and yeah that's the plan. Do you guys know any good places I could go to, to get some good photos?"

"Well you could probably go into the forest near the farm," Paul said. "You might find something worth your while."

Chris thought about the forest and he didn't think it was a bad idea to get some photos in there. Plus it would be nice for him to go do some hiking. Back in the city, he would usually go out on trails but they weren't the same as the ones in the countryside. There were a lot of interesting things to see in a forest, especially here on the farm.

He remembered when he was a kid his old man would take him out on camping trips when he was on summer vacation. When they went camping they would work together to set up their tents and build the campfire after they got done with their hiking and then they would go to a very close lake near their campsite and go do some fishing. When it was close to nighttime they would roast hotdogs for dinner and roast marshmallows for their s'more desert. After that, his Dad would usually go to bed while Chris stayed up to watch the stars. He always loved to look at the stars and he always wondered how they were created in the first place.

As Chris was thinking he then started to hear the telephone ring. Paul sighed annoyed and he got up from his seat and he set the newspaper on the table. "I'll get it." Paul then walked away.

Chris watched him walk away as he took another bite out of his eggs. Beth then looked at Billy. "Billy, why don't you go wait outside? Your father will be out shortly."

Billy nodded and he finished the last of his breakfast and went to get his shoes on and when he got them on he opened the screen door and went outside.

Chris looked at Beth. "So how's the farm been doing lately?"

Beth sighed. "Well, we're managing so far. But we've been having some problems with rats lately. We've been setting traps out for them but we haven't caught any so far and Dragon has barely caught any. We've been thinking about getting them exterminated because we don't want to risk getting anything out of the ordinary."

Like everyone else, Chris was not one to like rats. They were disgusting creatures that got into anything their grimy paws could grab. They were pretty much one of the reasons why the Black Plague happened.

"They've been getting in the house?" Chris asked.

"A lot of times, yes," Beth said. "But please don't worry about it, Chris. We want you to enjoy your vacation. We'll take care of the rats."

Chris was a very helpful person and was always willing to step in to take over a very difficult task and a lot knew that. He was about to protest but he knew his Aunt was right, he should be enjoying himself but to him, it seemed pretty selfish not to help out with the rats. Instead, he kept his mouth shut by stuffing in the last of his food to prevent him from saying anything else further.

Snap… Snap… Snap.

Chris was out in the forest taking photos of the wildlife and so far he had some pretty decent shots. He took pictures of herbs, landscapes, the sky, and some animals. He'd been outside for a while but he was enjoying himself. He was walking some distances and then sometimes he took pictures of things that caught his eye.

He was carrying a backpack-mostly because his Aunt insisted that he take one-and inside it was just his water bottle. He did have some lunch in there but he ate it a while ago.

Chris then saw a pretty little flower growing all by itself but it looked very delicate, to say the least. He brought his camera near him and he aimed for the flower trying to get a good angle and position. Then he pressed down on the push-button and took the picture. It was perfect.

He then stopped and sat down on a nearby rock and he unzipped his bag to pull out his water bottle. When he pulled it out he opened it and took a few sips from it. He looked at the time on his watch and it was approximately 2:10. Chris thought it was time to call it a day. Tomorrow he would get some more pictures in. He put his water bottle back into his bag and when he did he then zipped up his bag. He then stood up and grabbed his bag and he put it back on his back and started to walk back to the farm.

As he was walking he then noticed something in the grass. It was pretty far from him but he could tell that something was in the grass and it looked shiny. Curiously, Chris walked over to where he could see the shiny object and as he got closer he started to notice that this shiny object was blue and it looked pretty small. When he got close enough to it he used his foot to move a little of the grass away and when he did he saw that the blue object rolled onto the ground near him. Chris looked bedazzled when he saw that the blue, shiny object was a small stone and it looked like there was some sort of gold chain on it.

Chris scratched his head and wondered how something as marvelous as this got out here. Did someone lose it? He began to think that it might've been his Aunt's but the chain looked way too small to fit around his Aunt's neck. Was it a child's? His Aunt, Uncle, and cousin didn't have any neighbors and plus it still looked too small to even fit around a child's neck.

As he kept thinking he thought about how it looked pretty beautiful. He thought it could've been worth something. He could use some extra cash for his work and it would be very helpful. Chris bent his knees and he then started to reach out for the stone. He couldn't wait to sell this and he wondered who'd be willing to buy this. He could already picture how much he'd earn by the time he sold this.

As soon as he grabbed it, something strange started to happen. The blue stone started to glow a very bright blue and this made Chris squint his eyes. When he could focus on the stone, his eyes widened when he saw that the stone started to get brighter and as it did he started to glow the same blue as well and when he noticed it he started to get confused but freaked out at the same time. What was happening? Before he could do anything he started to feel different and then all of a sudden he started to fall and he screamed.

He landed on something soft and when he did he started to roll down it until he hit a hard surface. Chris groaned in pain as he could feel his sides bruising from the impact. He rubbed his head and he slowly started to get up as he had his eyes closed.

What the hell just happened? Chris thought.

He then opened his eyes and when he did he noticed that something didn't seem right. He looked around him and everything seemed bigger than him. Chris shook his head and looked again and thought this couldn't be right. There was no way he shrank a lot of inches. He walked backwards and as he did he felt his back hit something and when he looked to see what he hit he looked shocked to see that he was facing his broken Kodak camera and when he saw himself in the broken lens of his camera he thought he was going to faint.

He was the size of a fairy.

"Holy hell," Chris shouted. "What the hell happened!? I can't be small, I can't be small!" Chris started to slap himself hard. "Come on, Chris, wake up! You're dreaming!"

The more he slapped himself the more his cheeks started to turn red. When he stopped slapping himself he saw that nothing changed. He was still a small man. He didn't know what his family would think when they saw him so small. He couldn't go back looking like this, he had to get back to his normal size. But how?

The stone, Chris realized.

Chris looked around him to try and find the stone and he looked in every place he could. Eventually, he found the stone in some tall grass and he pulled it out. The chain on the stone now looked big enough to go around Chris's neck.

He narrowed his eyes at the stone. "I don't know how you did it but I don't want to be like this. Change me back." He waited for the stone to glow that blue color that he saw before but nothing happened. He thought this didn't look good. "I said change me back." Again, nothing happened. "Why won't you change me back!?" He growled and he then threw the stone to the ground.

He then heard some rustling in the grass. Chris jumped alarmed and he turned to where he heard the noise. It was close and he started to feel his heartbeats increase and he could actually hear it. What was in the grass? He knew it had to be some sort of animal.

Chris dug into a pocket of his pants and he struggled to get it out but he managed to pull out his pocket knife and he pulled out the blade part of it and he held it out towards where he heard the noise. He was surprised that his pocket knife shrunk with him, even his watch, his flashlight-that was in his other pocket-and clothes shrunk with him.

"Who's there?" Chris asked as bravely as he could even though he could feel his hand shake as he held out his pocket knife towards the grass. "I've got a knife here and I'm not afraid to use it!"

"Please, don't hurt me," a feminine voice said. "I didn't mean to startle you I was just trying to get a better look at you. I mean you no harm."

Chris kept his knife out. "If you mean it then I suggest that you get out here right now before I come in there myself! Show yourself!"

It was silent for a little bit and then Chris heard a sigh and then he started to see and hear the grass move and popping out of the grass was a female field mouse. Chris's jaw dropped as did his pocket knife.

A/N- I thought I should work on chapter 2 for this and I think getting this chapter done was worth it. It's not much but it'll have to do for now. The next chapter for this might be a while but I will keep posting on this as soon as possible.