The raccoon took the rock back to its nest. There, it found itself among various shiny objects. Coins, pieces of glass, garbage, a rusty pick, and other miscellaneous stuff. The nest itself was just a hole in the ground lined with fur and some mosses. It was somewhat similar to the crazy Druids “home” in a way. He must’ve copied the way animals make things. Perhaps, it was based on an animal like this rather than birds like what was originally assumed.

Among those shiny objects, the rock stood out the least. Without the sun shining on it, it looked like an ordinary rock and was shoved into a corner. The raccoon had taken it prisoner, only to forget about it and neglect its existence. A pointless action was taken by the raccoon and now the rock had to face the consequences. How selfish.

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This raccoon left the nest and went elsewhere. Not much difference between the way this raccoon was treating the rock and how humans did. There was a concept, seemingly set in stone, that humans and animals were fundamentally different. However, this event was enough to shatter that concept into a thousand pieces.

What was the point of collecting shiny things if they were just buried away from the sun? They’re being hoarded, not appreciated. It’s not like the raccoon will ever take them out and use them when it doesn’t even seem like it’ll appreciate them properly. A gimmick. That’s all they were. And that’s also all that the rock was, a gimmick. However, even a gimmick can become amazing if used properly.