Whitehill Falls a nondescript town in the USA with James Amon

If anyone told you the small town where James Amon grew up in was a quiet town was lying. Whitehill Falls was a hubtown for all those around it. That meant the only mall, the only freeway access and the only train station for the entire region lay here and every farmer, woodsman, and kid looking to escape had to come to Whitehill to reach the wider world.

That means activity and busy streets full of acquaintances from the surrounding area. And that meant as James Amon, you, barely liked to go into town. You would much rather be out in the Hill county or tending the field, or most of all with your friends playing out an escapist fantasy typically played out in the form of a video game style plot where one must save humanity from invaders by shooting them all up. You generally loved to indulge your escapist fantasies, not because life was bad, minus your sister Juliette, but because you felt directionless.

"Ohhh, come on honey I'm so happy for your graduation!" Alice, your mom, cheered while pulling you by your arm forward, guiding you through the disproportionately and always overcrowded Whitehill Mall. Didn't these people know most these stores were second rate at best and you could get similar or better prices with online ordering?

"Mom its not a Graduation, I'm just getting my long overdue GED." Your GED was almost two years overdue. Both you and the American school system didn't mesh, partially because your parents.

Alice had been a cheerleader, and supposedly the school bicycle before she graduated, the day she did she moved out of her parents house, got a long planned but still suprise wedding to Your father and seven months after that gave birth to her first child. In the time she was pregant with you, Alice was sick and often bedridden. So she ended up taking over the household finances and learned a long undiscovered love of finance. Now she has aspirations of taking over the similarly unimaginatively named Whitehill banking firm one day, and fostered a extremely vocal haterd of public schools that don't teach finance. Your father on the otherhand was a man of the land, he inherited a farm from his dying father some time before meeting Alice and since marrying her has done little else than raise crops and raise his kids, and raise Alice's voice to screams in bed.

As Alice dragged you to clothing store after clothing store rambling and going on about her pride in her son and how he can now become an official employee of the firm now that a lack of GED wasn't holding him back. You had accounting bashed into his head by this woman since You were a child. And yet somehow this nearly fourty year old was defying time and looking like the younger sister you wished you had and she certainly still dressed casually more like someone looking for a party than someone whose name could terrify every loan shark, or loanee in the region.

"Really mom? You know this deadbeat will probably turn down a job just so he can away in the fields. Isn't that right wheet lover?" And there was Juliette, the dark dressed popular girl of the Highschool and a contender for prom queen, and bane of your life. Since birth the baby Juliette had been bullying you and even now the nice girl act dropped whenever you were nearby.

"Oh stuff it Juliette, we're all proud of your brother. Some of us in this family aren't scared of showing affection you know." Alice always had a tendency to take your side between the two children, but less out of favoritism and far more because Juliette was always the antagonist.

Still while your mother was the Blond Bombshell cheerleader who switched the uniform for business attire. Juliette was the one girl with the sexy dark hair and pale skin that tans easy, who pulled off using both a Gothic Lolita and preppy style back to back and look almost genuine with both. And so Juliette was Alice's pride socially, where your mother placed her pride in you in the fact that her son had followed her convictions.

"Oh, how about this, you'll look nice and we can take pictures!" Alice cheered pointing to a three-piece suit.

"Mom seriously, this shouldn't be a big event. Besides the guys and I were planning to go hike the hills for a good spot to watch the meteor shower, thing has been going on for three days now and tonight will be the closest it's going to get to Whitehill." You complained bringing up the Meteor shower that had even been her obsession for the last couple days until you got the news about your GED.

Alice stopped and looked you over with a small frown and a critical eye. "We're still getting the suit. I might not be able to keep your father in one, but your staying in it to win it baby."

"Ok, seriously Mom, James could go work the fields, dad makes almost as much as you do after his farming expenses. Besides the primitive is scared of fancy high society things like cars without gear shifts, clothes that arent rugged, or actually having good gas mileage. Myabe one day I can civilize him and show him the error of his carbon footprint, but until then he just a Neanderthal." Juliette teased earning a glare from both her mother and brother.

You then shrugged your shoulders. "We live on a farm and actually work the land ourselves with our neighbors, we're more eco friendly than any of your celebrities or those city boys you crush on." You then took a couple steps back nearly bumping into a shopper.

"Well mom it's been fun but I need to check in with Dad, and see if we can borrow the truck, gonna need the better suspension for where we plan to drive." And then you made your eacape swiftly walking away as you mother just shook her head and Juliette cried out after you.

"There's no way I'd crush on a city boy. He knows I don't actually crush on city boys right mom? I mean not when..." Juliette began but stopped under her mother's disapproving stare.

***

After abandoning your mom and sister, you took your old beat up subaru and made your way home. There your father, Alexander, was waiting being on a break from seeing to the fields and dealing with the Henderson's Cows. Alexander wasn't a proud man, but he certainly felt pride for everything he ever helped create.

Where Alice was nearing her fourties, Alexander had just hit his fifties. He had a peppering of grey, and was generally a large man, thick arms, strong stout legs, and a round stomach from good food. He had inherited the farm and it was a mess when he did. his dying father hadn't the ability to care for it, and the old fool had gone and made a enemy of all his neighbors. Alexander instead had worked hard, he fixed everything himself and when he saw a problem for his neighbors offered to fix it for them if he was able. By the time you were born he was a up coming cornerstone of the farming community outside Whitehill Falls knowing where every piece of equipment was to be found, and who generally needed or had what and what sort of favors everyone owed everyone else. Personally he didn't like people owing him, and took the acts he did as signs of friendship.

Only exception to that rule was the Henderson girl. You had taken a fancy to her once, and as a father Alexander couldn't see a reason why not to try and make up an excuse to hook the two of you up. With just what sort of children you two would have, he'd have the best looking grandkids in the county or so he had stated a little too loudly to your mother once.

"Hey Dad, Mom's still in town, I'm borrowing the truck if that's alright." You shouted from his car as you parked and began to walk all the way out to see your father on the edge of the fields.

"Yeah go ahead boy, but if you're really planning to take it looking for asteroids all night take it into the shop for me tomorrow want to make sure the ol boy's going to hold out." The Truck was always about to go according to Alexander, and yet good maintenance and tender loving care you had given it and the thing was still running strong even two years after Alexander started saying the truck was about to die.

"Will do dad."

"Is it just you, or are Alex and Chad going as well?" The old farmer asked.

"Both my friends are coming as well dad." You responded with a sigh knowing what was coming next.

"Well tell them I'll kill them if I find any new stains my Truck, and I'll skin them alive if I smell even a hint of pot." The famer threatened. And there was one of the few difficulties of Your life, your father was brilliant, but self taught, a true believer that you must learn through your own experiences. Yet at the same time the man was protective which lead to him insisting that his children not blindly follow any teacher but instead go out and do, but all under his supervision. Your english scores had suffered because of this particularly as Alexander ranted and raved about true English and true writing not being about blind adherence to some stupid rules.

"Pot's not addictive dad." You replied flatly.

"Please half of addiction is all psychological, and both boys could probably make addicted to them they attract such problems and misfortunes."

"Understood!" And with that you were off. Alex and Chad were actually great guys, Alex was helping his family as they ran one of the market stores, while Chad was a bit of a loner working a internet job and being all on his own since before Highschool ended.

First you picked up Alex having to drive back into Whitehill to pick him up. Alex had been a socialite in Highschool and now the scraggly skinny blond man was slowly transitioning from helping his family with their store to also having a part time job teaching an elective class to at the highschool.

Next you picked up Chad. Chad was decently built able to challenge anyone in the city, but a far cry as fit as any of the old farm hands. Chad had long brown hair that he used to help cultivate his 'image'. An image no one locally knew about as you had heard rumors about him ranging from him being a trafficker, to a CIA plant claimed about him.

The three of you had been friends for as long as any of you could remember. Though with Chad's memory everyone joked that that would be last week.

Eventually the three of you had reached the hills and you drove up as deep into the hillside as the truck would take you then started hiking. The going was rough but you were alive and having fun.

"Come on virgins, hurry up, I'll die waiting for you both at the hilltop at this rate!" Alex shouted back from his spot ahead of both you and Chad. And it was true, you had had terrible luck with women, everyone you dated either not wanting to take the relationship that far, or separating after your or her family caught you trying to escalate things. Chad, was Chad, for some reason he never seemed to feel the need to get a girlfriend and it was almost certain that at this rate he'd either be the star of the next forty year old virgin, or die alone.

Alex had had sex before, but you're certain the crazy woman he was dating had traumatized him and he hadn't dated since. You had suggested he look for a boyfriend maybe, and he went into a rant about rejecting societal pressure and going after what he wants, not what society wants.

But exhausted and satisfied the three of you all reached the clearing at the top of the hill in safety set up and got ready to enjoy your night watching the meteor shower. And what a shower it was, like the heavens themselves were coming down raining onto earth. Countless streaks of light flashed in the sky as stones and other falling objects burnt up against the atmosphere. If you could you'd wish the moment to last, as you sat there dreams of aliens worlds, heroic battles, loving tender women, and freedom to see and do as you whimed crossed your mind.

And then the moment was shattered by a loud boom and fire. At first the loud boom was just a startling noise, but then there was a glow from down the hill and in a single terrible moment you realized a meteor must have struck, and struck right by where you had left the truck. So with a panicked shout you took off to travel down to your vehicle fear of having possibly lost it to a meteor and further possibly being stuck in the hill as the woods caught on fire running through your mind.

However even with a downward slope nervous energy couldn't carry you all the way down the slope and by the time your friends and you reached the impact sight all of you were winded. You heart was put at ease seeing that your father's truck looked alright, but a quick glance around with the small dying embers on the trees around you and the crater, perhaps the concussive damaged something, you'll need to check the vehicle over and quickly just in case a actual fire breaks out in these woods.

"Hey James, come on man let's check this thing out!" Alex shouted to you walking towards the relatively small crater.

"Can't I need to make sure the Truck is ok!" You shout while rushing over to the truck. You weren't a mechanic, but you knew enough that you could at least drive the truck to somewhere where it could be towed, if the internals weren't too fucked. However your worries appeared to be unfounded as the vehicle was almost as fine as when you first drove up here, all the damage was surface level.

You then went to check the tires to be safe and as you bent down. "FUCK!"

"Ha dumbass!"

"Not funny dude thing fucking shocked me!"

"It's a rock when has a rock got a electric current, besides you looked like you did when you pissed on that one electric fence the Henderson's accidentally overcharged that one time."

"Hey we agreed to never bring that up again."

"And you make that claim every time I do."

You smiled hearing the banter as you stood up. "Maybe the rocks magnetic, got some ores or metals inside. Just a sec my Dad keeps a small metal detector in the back in case stuff gets lost in a field."

"Hey James why bother? Shouldn't we just leave it here for when we call the fire Marshall?" Chad reasoned shouting as you were rummaging through the boxes of spare equipment your father always had on hand.

"Really Chad, you want to let some rando fireman be the one to swipe the space rock rather than us. The metallic space rock, I read the other day there's more gold in our asteroid field than on earth, maybe this came from one of those asteroids. Think about it man, space gold!" Alex responded only to moment later huff loud enough you could hear, either Chad made a gesture or whispered something you couldn't hear.

Still you got out the metal detector and a pair of insulated gloves just to be safe and walked over. You then turned on the metal detector the device vaguely aiming at the rock while you messed with the controls. Immediately the device started beeping.

"Ok!" You exclaim in surprise. "So this thing is very magnetic, probably not your Golden Lamp with a space Genie in it Alex but definitely got to be of some worth."

You then slip on the insulated gloves and go to pick up the Meteor. Even with the gloves you felt like you were receiving a light shock, no worse than what the fencing around one of the neighbors dog pins would give though so you managed to move the meteor and with help of Alex and Chad placed it on some rough padding in the back of the Truck.

"Ok, just so we're all in agreement. We're taking the rock, now who's holding onto it while we figure out what to do with it?" You ask.

Chad shakes his head no. "If it's as magnetic as we think it'll mess up my electronics at home, I almost broke the bank getting the set up I have now. Even with the insurance I bought I can't afford to have my systems knocked out."

Alex shrugged, "I'd be willing, but it's your truck, and your gloves and metal detector. Basically you've invested more than us on this man. Follow your mom's example, you get the majority claim on whatever is in this rock."

"Whatever we'll decide more when we get back, maybe get some sleep this has been exhausting."

AN: I kept slipping into second person, typically i write in third, but the story was demanding second person so i obeyed.