The Fate Stone

Originally Published in Tick Tock: Seven Tales of Time

Opening Scenes

Genna slinked around the out-building, watching the windows of the nearby house. No sign of Grams, though she knew Grams was in the kitchen. Maybe she was setting the table, away from windows. 

Perfect. 

Genna slipped the spare key into the lock and stepped inside.

The light in her mother's lab was dim and fading with the setting sun. Genna wasn't sure what she expected to find—it wasn't like she hadn't been in here a million times before. But her mom had been gone for two weeks without saying where she was going or when she'd be back. It seemed like there should be something in her lab that would give Genna a clue.

Genna stepped around a corner and banged her knee into a metal stool. "Shit." She rubbed the spot.

It wasn't unusual for Genna's mom to take off on sudden excursions, and she did leave a note: Not sure how long I'll be gone. 

But she hadn't called.  

Her mom was super-brainiac smart, but her everyday-smarts were average at best. Sometimes she'd skip way too many showers, work late and not get enough sleep. She even forgot to eat. Genna and Grams stocked a cupboard in her mom's lab full of protein bars, nuts, and bottles of water, and made her promise to use it.

And sometimes she didn't call when she traveled. 

A sparkle across the room caught Genna's eye and she moved toward it, careful to step over a wooden box filled with tools.

"No way." 

It was a geode her mom found during a major dig ten years ago. About the size of a cantaloupe, her mom had tried numerous times to crack it and failed. But now it sat on a black cloth, the face of each half looking up at Genna.

"Dinner." Grams called from the back of the house.

"Crap." Genna ducked down and shuffled across the lab.

"I know you're in there, Genna Thompson, so you may as well stop your foolin' and come out."

Genna rolled her eyes. "Every time." She straightened and opened the door. "How do you do that, Grams?"

"It's one of my many super powers. Now get in here and wash up for dinner." 

Genna bumped into Theo on the way to the bathroom upstairs. "Yo, bro." She rubbed the top of his spiky-haired head.

Theo ducked. "Seriously with the rubbing?" 

"It's for good luck, Buddha-head."

"I'm not bald. There's still hair on my head."

"But there's so much less than before. Gotta say, I'm digging the latest in eighth-grade hairstyles. Not that I didn't love your long hair. But you're looking very hip." Genna rubbed the top of his head again.

Theo batted her hand. "Quit it." He zipped down the stairs.

Genna finished washing up and joined them as Grams set a salad on the table.

"Is it organic?" Theo asked. He'd been learning about where food comes from, and had taken on the role of monitoring all meals.

"Yes, all organic. And before you ask, it's GMO-free, too." Grams was doing her best to meet Theo's new parameters, but admitted to Genna a rebel modified organism did get onto the menu on occasion.

"Well, yeah, if it's organic then it's for sure GMO-free. Can't be organic if it's GMO." Theo poured organic balsamic vinaigrette onto his salad.

"Right. Of course," Grams said. "I was just testing you." She smirked at Genna.

"Have you heard from Mom?" Genna asked Grams. "I really wanted her to take me to my driving test later this week."

"No, I'm sorry. I left her another message. But I'll take you to your test."

"Yeah, I know. I was just kinda looking forward to having Mom there." Genna took a bite of salad. 

Grams patted her arm. "Well, think how much fun it will be to show her your new driver's license when she gets home. I know you'll pass your test with flying colors."

"Yeah, thanks. That'll be cool." Not quite as cool as it'd be if she were taking me like she promised, but I'll deal. Again. "I just wish she'd call."

"Nothing to worry about. You know how she gets," Grams said. "Probably just another one of those geek-outs, as you like to call them."

When Genna's mom got über-geeky about attributes, debitage, or stratigraphy, Genna and Grams listened and nodded. But other than the fact it was archeology, they rarely knew exactly what she was talking about. Her mom's brain was on a different plane and, more often than not, she needed to collaborate with like-minded people. Those sessions were the geek-outs. 

Genna thought it was much more interesting when her mom talked about the possibility of reincarnation, something of a hobby her mom liked to study on the side. She and her mom had had long conversations about the idea, but they were more philosophical than real science.

"What about you, Theo?" Grams asked. "Anything special going on this week?"

"Not special." Theo smeared butter on his bread. "They're having that dumb dance at school Friday afternoon." 

"Oh, bummer—you won't be able to whip your hair around the dance floor." Genna punched Theo in the arm. "Then again, it will be a good test of the new you."

"Not really, because I'm not going."

"What? Why not?" Grams asked.

"Because, like I said, it's stupid. You just stand around and look at everyone."

"You're supposed to ask someone to dance, goofball." Genna filled her water glass. 

"Whatever. I'm going to hang with my friends instead."

"You'll never meet girls that way."

Theo stuffed lasagna in his mouth. "I'm good with that."

"Hmm. You eat like that around girls, and they'll be good with that, too," Genna said.

Theo stuck out his pasta-covered tongue and made a face.

"Oh my. These are the times I'm glad your mother isn't here, so I can blame her absence for your poor table manners." Grams chuckled and bit into her roll. "Because you know it's not my doing," she said with her mouth full.

Everybody laughed.

When they were finished eating, Genna and Theo tag-teamed the dishes.

"I'm heading up to study." Genna hung a dishtowel on the rack. "And I might crash a little early, so I'll say good-night now."

"Do you have swim practice in the morning?" Grams asked.

"Yep. Five AM, painfully sharp."

"Then I'll see you after school. Sleep well." Grams hugged Genna and kissed her forehead.

Upstairs, Genna flipped on the lights in her room and sat at her desk overlooking the backyard. She opened her math book and it cracked like it didn't want to be bothered.

She stuck her tongue out at the book. "I don't like it any better than you do. But studying now is better than failing later." Genna yawned and focused on a formula.

###

Genna startled awake. She glanced at her phone: three AM. 

"Crap." She wiped drool off her cheek. Her fingers lingered on an indentation from sleeping on her pen. Lovely. Let's hope that pops out before pool time.

She pushed herself up from her desk and turned toward her bed when a light caught her eye. 

"What the…" 

Genna peered out of her window. A faint glow emanated from inside her mom's lab. 

"Huh. I must've left a light on." Too cold to bother with it tonight. Genna peeled off her clothes and climbed into bed. "Okay. Sleep for another hour at least." She took a deep breath and blew it out slowly.

A few minutes later, she sat up. No use. “Stupid light.” But maybe it's Mom in her lab. She redressed and grabbed a flashlight from her desk drawer. 

She opened the lab door, glad she hadn't bothered to lock it earlier. "Hello?" Genna shined the flashlight around the room. Nothing glowed. Her heart raced. "Okay, I am so not going to be the why-doesn't-she-just-turn-the-lights-on-girl you see in those scary movies." She flipped the light switch.

"Hey—anyone here? Mom?" No one answered. Genna moved through the lab. Everything looked normal. Nothing out of place. She reached into her mom's snack cupboard and took a chocolate brownie protein bar.

The newly-opened geode glinted under the lights. Genna remembered her mom's comment about no one having seen the inside of it, that its inner treasure had been hidden for maybe millions of years. And now here it was, open for anyone to gaze upon. Genna moved her face closer.

Spikes of clear crystals ringed the edge. Inside, pink and gray mixed with bits of rusty red. And deep in a smaller chamber sat a smooth, bright blue spot that looked like a chunk of stone had been sheared away. Genna touched the surface.