The mineral

One, two, one, two.

The small boy hoped from one beam to another as he traveled down the abandoned train tracks. On the tag of his coat a worn name tattooed the fabric. Joseph Hutch. Each step and hope he did he counted as if he was marching. His coat was a tanned brown and his trousers were a deep blue. Using his hand he scooped hair from his inhumanly green eyes as they scanned the floor to add to his collection of rocks, that sat on his windowsill at home. Not wanting to go home too fast he continued down the tracks.

One, two. One, two.

He began to hum to himself as he scoured the floor for something different. Humming and skipping from one bean to the next time passed with a strangely quick pace. After the sky began to shine with an inviting pink glow Joseph stopped and decided to walk back home. His eyes still scanning the ground but not as intensely as before. On either side of the tracks was a forested area that buzzed with the sounds of nocturnal life slowly waking up. Looking toward a tree a small speck of shimmering light hit the corner of Joseph’s right eye. The intense gleam suddenly began to radiate numerous colours as if to entice him further. Joseph slowly creeped towards the shining point of the ground. Hidden half buried lay a mineral gem unlike any he’d seen before it shone with purples, pinks and reds. uncovering it with his hand Joseph pulled it free. As it rested in his palm it almost absorbed the beet of his pulse as it began to pulse itself. His hand began to heat up not with a dangerous or scary heat but with a comforting warmth. He couldn’t take his eyes away from it. His emerald green irises began to shine with a purple hint. The warmth pulsed through him echoing from his hand to his arm then to his shoulder. Almost like a ripple it filled his body. Now with a rush he crazily ran home. His eyes still shone with the effect of the stone as it lay in his pocket buried under paper and his keys.