SS: The crystal; Chapter 2 on Pg 16

He picks up the crystal wondering how it got there. A wave splashes on the shore near his feet. He looks up, the sky holds a clear white colour. Deep and opaque. A heavy shower's on its way, thinks he. A smile appears on his lips.

He raises the piece of glass and looks through it. He jumps as the thunder rolls through the sky. He had missed the lightening. He looks though the crystal once again.He sees only the overwhelming whiteness of the sea and the crumbling brown shade of the islet he stood upon.

He looks around. There is no trace of land anywhere. Just the sea, that raged around. The waves that splashed on the rocks are getting larger and larger. Who cares, he thinks. Suddenly a drop falls on his shoulder. And then anther. He shivers and turns, "Ooh! It's so cold!"

The sky was changing its colour. The formidable white was changing to lovable blue. Don't I hold the same colour, thinks he.

"Prince!" He turns back. A soldier stands on the boat, his chin held high. "All the Princesses are searching for you Sir! The crown-princess wants you inside the main palace within a few minutes." He looks at him, "Yes. Why not? Lets go."

He turns back and throws the crystal at the sea. The little crystal rides along the wave, off to another land. Perhaps it will find a younger patron there.

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The boy picked up the stone. It glistened in the last rays of the sun. Could it be a diamond? They said that you could always find one on your way around the village if you were careful enough to look for it. No, it couldn't be. His mother had told him that diamonds were much smaller in size and no one in the last decade had found a single piece. His mother and he always laughed at those who told them such stories. Offended, they would often say, "You'll sit and stare when I go off with one myself." He would tell him, "Well, if they are so abundant, why don't you get yourself one, build a castle or go to the city and leave us to ourselves?"

He ran back to his mother with the stone. She had a close look at it before she said, "It's a crystal, my boy. A very pretty one that too! I'll make you a necklace with it, and you can always keep it close to yourself. Now, be a sweetheart and bring me my box of strings, will you?"

Now, he is running about the village, proudly flaunting his pendant. "It's a crystal!" he said, "Do you even know what a crystal is?" He is not letting anyone other than his best friend to touch it. Even she is allowed only for a minute, before he turns around and runs away to show it to the trees and rabbits and deer of the forest near the stream. They were the only ones apart from his mother who still respected his individuality and did not see him just as a unfortunate child of an abandoned mother.