The hole was deep. Deeper than necessary for a gerbil, but Penny was lost in thought by that point. Mindless of the dirt on her knees and under nails as the trowel sunk into the earth.
That was until it hit something solid with a thunk. Bringing her mind back to the current activity, burying her sisters beloved Kiwi before she noticed the rodent had been replaced with an identical.
Penny tapped at the obstruction, working at the soil around it, and eventually managed to pull it free. Although too caked in mud to identify, it was too light not to be hollow and something inside rattled.
Suddenly curious she quickly finished her task. Bidding the pet a final farewell as she patted the soil down and attempted to make it look like no one had dug there at all.
"Goodbye, kiwi number two, you were a good gerbil, only bit me twice and Macy loves you lots. Sorry she's not here to send you off but she'd be upset if she knew you were gone. You wouldn't want her to cry, right? Its better this way." Picking up the mysterious object, Penny started walking towards the house. "Thanks for a good two years, I'll miss you"
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Turning on the hose and blasting it full force revealed a plain wooden box, sealed shut with a tiny padlock reminiscent of the one Penny herself once placed on childhood diaries.
Rummaging inside their shed she found an old toolbox no one had used since they removed Macy's bike stabilisers. Penny pulled out a flat screwdriver and tried to pick it open, and when that failed after a few attempts, used it to break the lock.
The box was still stubborn. Moving ever so slowly open in bursts as she pried the lid between both hands. With a screech, the rusty hinges snapped. Two separate parts clattering to the floor as it's contents skidded across the work bench, and stopped abruptly at the edge.
"Weird marble." It rolled towards the middle. Almost seeming to float. There were no imperfections in the glass, and it practically glowed a neon orange when the sun hit it just right. Penny positioned her hand to catch the marble as it rolled.
The moment it touched her skin the worst headache she had ever experienced attacked her mind. Clutching her head, she yelped. Moving into the fetal position while groaning. Strange images entering her mind, too fast to process and glitching across her vision even with her eyes closed.
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