Lloyd Golson - College Freshman - Lucky Stone

Lloyd stood stupefied, heart hammering away at his ribcage on the side of the road. Mere seconds ago, a bus barreled past, 10 tons of metal and sweaty bodies more than ready to turn him into a stain on the pavement.

If it hadn't been for the little stone in his shoe.

Numbly, he gazed at the little lump of rock he managed to extricate from his sole. It was jagged, asymmetrical, and an ugly blend of greys and blacks and shit brown. That ugly little thing just saved his life.

Luck had never been on Lloyd's side. Oh, let us count the ways of his misery. There was the time his bully Chuck took his new toys at his birthday party and Lloyd's parents actually THANKED him for "making sure our son doesn't get too spoiled." Of course, there was the lunch money situation at school. Namely that Lloyd always had his taken. His mother said she'd start making him lunches at home. She always forgot. Except the one time she didn't and his father fed it to the dog by accident. (How in the fuck does someone feed a dog a BLT with a bag of fruit snacks to a dog by accident, anyway?) None of his clothes ever fit, every car he drove broke down, every dating app bans him before he can even make a swipe, it's depressing.

Let's see, what else? there was the time Chuck stole his crush in grade school, the two in middle school, his girlfriend in High School, AND his favorite teacher after they graduated. It wouldn't have been so bad if Chuck wasn't still dating all of them at the same time. And if they didn't get all horny when they told him to walk into traffic. And if Lloyd's parents didn't keep inviting Chuck over for dinner and letting him and all his girlfriend's sleep in Lloyd's room. Every night. For the last two years. While Lloyd paid rent.

But here, now, holding this little chuck of earth in his hand that somehow managed to find it's way into his hand-me-down light-up Sketchers (the lights were broken), he felt...he felt like he could be optimistic about his life for the first time. That, maybe, it wasn't going to be so bad anymore.

He wrapped his fingers around the angular little stone, closed his eyes, and took a new breath. He was ready.

A grin stuck on his face, he waited for the crosswalk light to turn green once again.

He took a single step before a police cruiser slammed to a stop in front of him, lights flashing and siren blaring.