Did this day signify how the world had lost its consciousness, how everything was OK now, whether right or wrong because we were free and entitled to our own opinion? Was the stone free that day? If so how did it end up in a hole underground? Why didn’t anyone come find it, or they had somehow believed that it chose this hole because it was free.

The more they dug the more its thoughts consumed it. It felt like they were digging right through it. One day the digging stopped. It all stopped, the men were gone and it was now silent. Fear came over it. It had thought that this was it, it would be found. But again nobody found it. Was it not good coal, couldn’t it burn? Being found by a greedy old man might be better than this. The stone no longer minded burning. After all, it was now coal and was meant to burn. Maybe it was not like the other stones and had not turned into coal at all. Its very existence made itself uncomfortable. It was not sure of anything anymore.

It began to wonder if the man still remembered that he had put it there. Whether he remembered that he once took away innocence and left it to rot underneath the ground. That’s the thing about greedy old men, they always win. Maybe he walks down the path up top every day, wondering how many stones he buried.

*****

Time passes again the earth burns, the gasses choke and the earth presses me. I’m used to it now. I no longer pass thoughts but my thoughts never fail to entertain my mind. Hope, creator, those things become theories to me which I explore. Life is not what they told me it was. I see it for myself now. They were right about one thing though, it is sure complicated. The real world I can never survive in, it limits me and I have conformed.

But here, my mind discovers things that the people up top would simply call insane. With every new thought, I feel the ground around me tighten, with each day I feel my strength rising. I was powerful once more. And yes I was getting bigger. The more the earth pressed, the stronger I became. The gasses began to give me a glow, and the dirt was my shield. Years passed, memories came and I embraced them. Although painful, they could no longer knock me out.

I was in my own world forging my own paths that no one could tear down because I was the only one with that vision. The old man had dug the hole but had forgotten to take away the brain, the only tool ever created without limits. I thought back and remembered that the creator might have a plan after all. He had left me there so I cannot be touched anymore, so I can build my own…

Even before the thought is finished, there is digging again?

After so many years, emotions start flooding again, fear, anger, and joy, all of them at once. Funny thing is that it is now close. The machines are loud. The men’s voices are very clear and distinct. The stone listens to them. They’re still searching for coal after all these years, still complaining about the same thing. Doesn’t the world on top change? After I have changed so much? I feel like I am no longer coal, but something stronger. They have missed the opportunity to burn me. Oh the joy, those greedy old men will never burn me.

The drill is close now very close, I can feel myself vibrating. Oh gosh, I wish they do not find me, let them pass me and think I am just another stone. Because one thing I know, I am no longer coal, I cannot burn. The drill is coming closer. I can taste its metal. I have been under here for too long that I know every smell and can taste it. I feel it, the ground is loosening its grip, slowly letting go of me as if preparing me for what is to come next.

It held on to me as if it was giving the last bit of advice, as if it was saying goodbye to me. Leaving your comfort zone is never easy. Fear it is always there, fear of what is next. These men had taken everything from me, now they were here again looking for more. Maybe I will escape them like last time, maybe they will overlook me… Just as I say that, I feel the drill get stuck in the soil that had become my shield.

***

Tell us what you think: Do you think she will finally be found?