Stone followed the same path home that he did every day. He would get out of school, making his way to his neighborhood’s library and study for a while. This dedication to education would then get rewarded by swinging into Mama’s Frozen Yogurt.
“Blueberry pomegranate?” Mama Babette asked Stone when he entered the shop, already knowing that he was going to be ordering the yogurt. Stone responded with a kind “Yes please Mama,” before pulling sitting at the bar.
Mama’s Frozen Yogurt had an old candy parlor feeling to it. Mama, herself works behind the bar, treating each frozen yogurt as though it were the finest craft beer on tap, happy to serve to each and every customer. The lighting inside is kept at a cozy level, casting a soft glow over the surfaces, an old jukebox provided quiet but ever-present ambient noise that filled in the silences. To top it all off, Mama Babette herself was like a mother to Stone. His own mother was never at home, she worked two jobs and hasn’t even seen Stone since his sophomore year of high school. Stone’s father was long out of the picture, and Stone was going to be graduating high school soon. Only Mama Babette noticed how hard Stone was working and made sure he knew it each and every time he stepped in to get his blueberry pomegranate frozen yogurt. These and many other factors led to Stone seeing this establishment as his second home.
“Stone. Stone. STONE.” Mama Babette grabbed his attention, “Your yogurt is getting warm. Eat it, but not too quickly or you’re going to get a head freeze,” Mama Babette warned Stone.
Stone snapped back to himself after being lost in thought. The blueberry pomegranate yogurt tasted exquisite as usual. Not heeding Mama Babette’s warnings, Stone consumed the frozen yogurt with reckless abandon. It tasted too good and was worth every bit of that brain freeze.
“Hold on Stone, normally you take it slow. What has got you so riled up?” Mama Babette pryed.
“My final tests are tomorrow. I’m finally going to graduate and then I can get out of here. Mama, I’m tired of living in the ghetto. It is dangerous and I am far too smart to waste away there, you said it yourself,” Stone began to tear up, not realizing that he had been holding in his emotions all this time, “I just miss my Ma, I’m tired of the notes she leaves around the house. I just want her to have dinner with me sometimes. I try so hard but it is like she hasn’t even noticed. I am tired of doing so well without recognition. This morning there was a note by the tests I left on the kitchen table. I have good grades, each of those tests had nineties or higher! You know what the note said?” Stone paused, catching his breath and drawing a few glances from the other patrons in the store. “She told me to get my papers off the table or she was going to throw them away. She didn’t even notice what they were. They were just my papers.” Stone was now visibly shaking and tears coming from his eyes.
Mama Babette deftly made her way around the counter and took Stone into her arms, giving him the hug he deserved. No child should have to go through this.
“Stone,” Mama whispered “I recognize you. You are doing so well and I am so very proud of the young, intelligent man you have become. Since you started coming in here almost two years ago I have watched you grow up and mature in so many ways. You are like a son to me, and I want you to know that. Tell you what Stone, bring your tests in here to me and I’ll proudly display them behind the counter. You don’t deserve this struggle.”
Stone silently reciprocated Mama Babette’s hug, something inside of him seemed to heal. He tried to pay for his yogurt, but Mama Babette wouldn’t let him, Stone thanked her, grabbed his backpack and made his way home. The sky was growing dark as he made his way into the ghettos. Shady men walked about, calling out nonsensical things at Stone. Drunkards begged for cash, and junkies asked for drugs. Stone did his best to evade these people, but they were better at finding him than he was at evading. The next few minutes to get to his address 14 Elm Street dragged on. This far into the ghettos street lamps weren’t working and trash littered the street.
As per usual, his mother was home but drunk and passed out in bed. His tests had been scattered on the floor, and his dinner was left on the stove, burned beyond being edible since his mother left the electric burner on. Sighing to himself, Stone set about doing the dishes and making sure that his mother would be happy when she left for work in a handful of hours. He gathered up his test papers and decided that he should go to sleep since tomorrow would be a big day for him.
Stone’s alarm blared in his ear, startling him awake. Five in the morning, just as he always wakes up. He crawled out of bed, slipping on his boxers and nothing else he made his way to the kitchen and started a pot of coffee. Once that it was started he went to the bathroom, took care of nature’s calling and got in the shower to freshen up for the day. While in the shower, he brushed his teeth and scrubbed his body clean. If there was one thing Stone hated, it was not being fresh and clean. The shower did enough to wake him up, but the coffee would get him started for the day. He knew that his reliance on caffeine was not healthy, but it got him moving in the morning.
After getting dressed and preparing to head out to his classes, Stone had to stop and think for a moment, “Do I take the tests to Mama’s? I don’t see any harm in it, and she is like family to me.” He tucked the tests safely into his backpack and left his house, locking the door securely behind him. During the morning and day time, the streets surrounding his own are nowhere near as sketchy as they are at night time. People are normally inside, sleeping off the alcohol from the night prior, or going to work. They simply do not have the time to bother a young man on his way to school. Except for of course the junkies which are always looking to score another dose of their drugs. For stone, this morning was lucky so far. No junkies had approached him, and he hadn’t seen any either. The morning was going well up until he got close to the school campus, in a noticeably better part of town. That isn’t to say that the neighborhood the school exists in is a good part of town, in fact, the crime rates here are higher than the ghettos where Stone lived. Some of his classmates were gathered off the school grounds with people that clearly did not belong on the campus.
“Look, man, it’s Stone.” one of the members of the groups called out. “I heard he was crying in Mama’s Frozen Yogurt yesterday, little bitch.”
“What’s wrong Stone? Couldn’t go home to cry on your real Mom’s shoulders so you had to go to her?” A series of weak insults and pestering came from the group, which Stone was able to ignore for the most part. When one of the group members got around to stating what they were going to do with Mama Babette after she left the store for the night, Stone snapped. Although the odds were stacked against him and he knew that, he launched himself at the person that was making uncouth and vulgar comments about Mama Babette. Stone didn’t make it very far before he was surrounded, knocked to the floor and began to get kicked.
Stone curled into a fetal position as blow after blow struck him in the sides, back, stomach and head. An eternity passed before the beating stopped and the school officer pulled Stone to safety, scaring off the thugs. “Stone, what the fuck were you thinking?” Officer Slater chided Stone.
“They were dissing my Ma-”
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
“They were getting a rise out of you. You just put a target on your back. Stone you can’t be doing that.”
“I know Officer Slater, it’s just,”
“No, man. I have seen too many kids around here get beaten and worse. You’re a smart kid Stone. You can get out of here, just keep the target off your back, there is only a few more weeks of school left. You are almost guaranteed a scholarship to a college. You have greatness in you, Stone. Don’t fuck up.” Slater pushed him a bit, almost like an older brother giving a friendly shove in the right direction.
“Go to the nurse’s office. Get some ice on your eye, it looks pretty bad. Meet me here after classes. I’ll drive you home.
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Classes flew by without much of an issue, the tests went well, but Stone wouldn’t know how he did until the teachers graded them. He met officer Slater in his office, he wouldn’t take a ride back to Elm street, it would have been too dangerous for a cop to go down there. The gangs might not be violent with Stone now, but if he showed up in a police cruiser and walked into his house, he would have an even bigger target on his back. That was something that Stone did not want or need in his life. He would just ask Officer Slater for a ride to Mama’s Frozen Yogurt.
Slater dragged a chubby white teen into his office, who was calling Officer Slater every expletive in the book, ranging from derogatory racial slurs to rather creative curses, this wannabe nazi was well versed in his chosen vocabulary. “Stone, I need to take care of this, could you wait outside my office? I should only be a few moments.” Stone complied and sat on the floor outside Slater’s office. Stone pulled out the notebook from his backpack and clicked his pen to start doodling. This doodle depicted a very rough representation of Officer Slater playing pool with a police baton as his pool cue, taking aim at an 8 ball. Stone chuckled at this and promptly tore the sheet out of the book and crumpled it up. Doodling was an interest of his, but he would be caught dead before anyone got to see the drawings.
Another officer came into the office later, nodding to Stone on his way in. The wannabe nazi left in handcuffs, making sure to call Stone a name or two. Slater walked out of the office. “Sorry you had to listen to him. He is leaving here for good. Third infraction in a week and this was the most violent of them all.” Slater shook his head in mild disbelief and major disapproval. “He’ll likely end up in the system for the rest of his life. Before these radical beliefs of his he was a good kid.” Slater continued to talk as they made their way to the police cruiser.
Stone explained to Slater why he didn’t want to be dropped off at his house, but rather the Frozen Yogurt shop on Main. Not able to find a hole in the logic, Slater took Stone to Mama’s Frozen Yogurt and decided to get some with Stone.
“Poor kid could use a pick me up anyway.” Slater thought to himself. Much to Slater’s delight, this Frozen Yogurt place also had a kitchen with a fryer. He ordered two baskets of curly fries with cheese sauce, as well as some amaretto flavored frozen yogurt. He sat with Stone and chatted about this and that, mostly nothing important, until grades came up. Stone sat up straight and his eyes went wide, “I almost forgot!” He reached into his bag and pulled out the now slightly crumpled tests which were all exceptional grades. “I am doing pretty good in my classes. All of my tests for this year have been a ninety or higher. My mom won’t acknowledge them so I brought them in today for Mama Babette. She’s been looking out for me since my sophomore year.” Slater felt emotions stirring inside of him. He lost his own mother at a young age and was raised in foster care after his father abandoned him as a child. Having a mother figure is immensely important, and Slater was happy that Stone might have some support. Mama Babette walked over to the table that Slater and Stone sat at with two baskets of fries, setting them in front of the two. Slater smiled at Stone and told him to enjoy the fries. Stone hesitated for a moment, it wasn’t often that someone would give him food. Babette noticed the tests and showered Stone in praise, asking if she could take them behind the counter. Stone let her take them, and pin them to the wall.
For a brief moment, Stone knew what having a proper family was like. Babette was like a mother to him. Officer Slater was as close as he had to an older brother, as well as a proper male role model. And the fries in front of him were as close as he’d get to a home-cooked meal that wasn’t burned. With his stomach full and heart fuller, Stone decided he should get home before it got too dark. Slater had left a few minutes prior due to a call on his scanner prompting all officers to some incident. Stone grabbed his bag, slung it over his shoulder, waved Mama Babette goodbye for the day and left the shop.
It wasn’t often that Stone felt this content with things. He had a little more pep in his step than normal, longer strides and a smile on his face.
“Things might be turning around,” he thought to himself. The cars nearby were quieter, less traffic was on the road than normal. This was perfectly fine to Stone since most of the cars in this part of town were old and belched out loud noises and reeked of poorly combusted gasoline. Even the junkies were leaving him alone at this point, letting Stone get home a little faster than usual.
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Officer Slater sat in his cruiser, driving around mildly affluent neighborhoods in search of crime that rarely happened here. The work was boring, but boring meant that people weren’t in trouble. That peace of mind was all that Slater wanted. A peaceful, boring society where crime didn’t happen. Where hatred and inequality were erased. “If only that could be reality,” Slater mused to himself. He continued driving around, idly musing about what-ifs. The crackle and chatter of his radio didn’t apply to him, so he could ignore it for the most part.
“Nearby units please respond immediately to Elm Street. Proceed with caution, there has been what seems to be a drive-by shooting. There are at least three wounded civilians.” an operator’s voice crackled through the radio. Slater’s stomach sank as he flicked on his lights and sped out of the neighborhood toward Elm Street.
On the scene, several people were on the ground bleeding. Slater was the first officer to arrive, and he immediately set toward securing the sector and began instructing the civilians that were standing around on how they could help. He looked around frantically for Stone. With the civilians around the victims, it was hard to tell if Stone was even there. Slater made his way to one person and began applying first aid. Sirens blared in the distance, signaling that help was on the way. Slater wrapped a bandage around the young woman’s arm since she had only been grazed by a bullet. He told her to sit still and remain calm.
The sirens grew louder.
Slater rushed to the next person that needed help. They were much worse off than just a graze to the arm. This poor man had a hole in his throat, blood continued to gush out. Slater put gauze over and into the wound as the man began to shake violently. The paramedics arrived and took over. Slater stood and looked around, not seeing Stone anywhere in the crowd.
“Maybe he’s fine.” Slater tried to comfort himself.
“Does anyone know this man?” A paramedic called out. There was silence. Slater made his way toward the paramedic. Life drained from his face when he looked down at lifeless eyes staring at his own. Slater dropped to his knees and took Stone’s head into his hands and began to wordlessly sob.
“Officer do you know this man?”
“Stone. His name is Stone Williams.”
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Stone felt a sharp, burning pain in the back of his head, and then everything went black. He felt himself fall into nothingness, but nothing else. Just the feeling of falling, with no other sensations. It seemed like he fell for a long time before anything happened.
“Stone. You are a peculiar case. Normally when someone dies, they go to one of two places. You know the two. Just about every religion where you’re from has them. A desirable place to be, and an awful place to be. Those are both very much real, as resting locations for your soul to spend eternity. Either way, you are different. When you died, you were not assigned a location. By all means, you should still be alive, yet here you are. So now we have an issue. A choice to make. And that choice is yours. As you were not yet supposed to die, your soul is still connected to a fragment of your body. You are whole still. You can get your body back on another plane of existence, but you can not go to a good place or a bad place as they cannot facilitate souls that carry their body. So, I ask you to choose a plane of existence.
Firstly, there is Earth… Well, not Earth, but a copy of it. Everything would be the same, but looking at your life… I am not sure that is a good idea.
Second, there is Alkestra. A world of magic, technology, and turmoil. There is plenty to do here, but it is not for the faint of heart.
Third, there is Theroom. As the odd pronunciation sounds, it is a room that you can control to do whatever you want within for all of eternity. You could look at your old memories, make new ones based on your own perception, become a god in a miniature universe you make... but the only limitation is that you are stuck in a room, that has finite size.
Oh, and one more thing before you choose. Memories are important, Stone. The longer you spend deciding the more will be erased from your memories. Good luck.”
"Alkestra." Stone tried to speak, but instead of words coming from a mouth, the word echoed around him. While his family might not have been great, he did not want to leave the memories of his families behind, and he certainly didn't want to stay on Earth, where he had died in the first place. It was time for a new beginning for Stone Williams.