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06-28-2005, 10:37 AM
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#1 (permalink) | |
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Shackle Me Not
Location: Newcastle - England.
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The story of my life.
Quote:
Many years ago (about 10ish) my dad gave me a shiny black stone which, he claimed was his lucky stone handed down from his dad (if you knew him you would understand that this isn't too out of the ordinary). He told me that it would bring me good luck on three occasions and, when I had recieved my luck, I had to pass the stone on to somebody else. I asked him what luck it had brought him and he replied without hesitation "I met your mam, we had your brother and then we had you." Fair enough then. I took it and put it in my pocket. At that time I wasn't superstitious in the slightest but, you know, it was a father-son moment and.. well, I don't need to explain. Shortly afterwards (within a week or two) three life changing events took place. Quite out of the blue I got a great job, met a beautiful girl and I won some money on the lottery (not the big prize, but better than a poke in the eye). Several of my friends joked that it must be the work of the lucky stone. I, jokingly, agreed with them. At that time I felt my life was almost complete, the path was clearly laid out in front of me and I could take the world on. Then, slowly but surely some things started to go terribly wrong. I'll spare you the detail but I was in a desperate state, with no-one to blame. One night I was lying in bed, passing the stone between my fingers, when it dawned on me that I was starting to believe in this little rock. I had to get rid of for the sake of my own sanity. Who could I give this gift to who would not only appreciate it, but treat it with respect? It was, after all, a special gift from my dad. Eventually the answer found me. One of my good friends, Al, confided in me that he was going through a rough time. He'd recently became a dad and he and his partner were almost with each other. I chose him as the next recipient of the lucky stone. As you might expect, he was very skeptical about the whole thing. With some gentle persuasion he took it. "What have you got to lose? It's just a little stone," I said as I handed it over. Incredibly, within weeks (maybe even days) his life started to sort itself out. He got a clean break from his girlfriend with full access to the child, sold his house at the peak of a housing boom and landed a very well paid job. Then - you know what's coming - his life started to fall apart at the seams. I can't go into detail but what happened to him was far worse than my experiences. He's still trying desparately to rebuild his life to this day, almost four years later (come to think of it, so am I). Late one night I got a phone call from him, he was in tears: "It's this fucking stone, I tell you, you knew this would happen when gave me it!" he said. I tried to reason with him, explaining that "It's only a stone, you don't believe in all that nonsense, do you?" I think he realised how ridiculous it was, blaming it all on the stone, but it wasn't good enough for him. I knew, or at least I think I knew that the stone was responsible. The stone had to go. The next night we went out for a drink, I think it was a Friday. First thing he did was give me the stone back. It felt strange to hold it in my hand once again, like I was breaking the rules or something. What rules though? There was no instruction booklet when my dad gave it to me. Man, I really had to get rid of the stone, but how? I had one hope but it was going to be risky. My ex-girlfriend had been working in a local bar since we'd separated. I decided there and then that I would give it to her. Unfortunately that would mean talking to her and somehow managing to give her a 'gift' without giving her any ideas about us getting back together. The exchange had to be quick, with as little talk as possible. We entered the bar where she was working and went up to order the drinks. This would be the first we had spoken in over a year and I was feeling a little nervous, I had loved this girl once and I still had some feelings for her deep in my stomach. She made it easier for me by doing all the talking, she seemed only too keen to tell me about her new boyfriend and how everything was great in her life. 'Just smile and nod' I thought, while desparately thinking of a way to give her the stone. She eventually stopped talking and asked what I would like to drink. "Two pints please, and get yourself one while you're at it." She poured the pints and declined my offer of a drink. "How much is that?" I asked, "Since when have you paid for drinks in here?" she responded with sly little smile. I fake-fumbled for change in my pocket, making sure I had the stone in my hand as I pulled a handful of coins out and presented them in front of her with the stone in full view. She recognised it immediately. "Are you still carrying that stupid stone around with you?" she asked. She'd seen it before but like others and myself before her, had no faith in it's 'powers'. With a smile I sarcastically explained my magic stone story once again, my friend Al sarcastically backing me up with a little spur-of-the-moment story of his own. "Yeah, it's the same lucky stone", I said "but it's time to give it away, I've had my luck out of it." "I'll have it!" she instantly replied. I remember thinking 'that was too easy' as I handed it over, telling her to 'beware of it's powers' (smiling still) and that was it. Job done. What happened in the following weeks, months, years and up until this day is something I will have to live with for the rest of my days. Maybe it would have happened regardless of whether she had the stone or not. I'll never know. You're probably wondering why I chose that picture at the top of the page. Well, see the one on the top row - second from the left... I'm not saying that's it but the resemblance is just too uncanny. I know there are an unfathomable amount of stones in the world, so the chances of finding two the same are pretty good. It's only there to give an idea of what I was carrying around and passing on. Seeing it posted on the nonsense board just brought back a lot of memories. |
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06-28-2005, 11:29 AM
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#2 (permalink) |
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Lover - Protector - Teacher
Location: Seattle, WA
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Hmmm... I got nothin.
Too vague for me. 
__________________
"I'm typing on a computer of science, which is being sent by science wires to a little science server where you can access it. I'm not typing on a computer of philosophy or religion or whatever other thing you think can be used to understand the universe because they're a poor substitute in the role of understanding the universe which exists independent from ourselves." - Willravel |
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06-28-2005, 11:36 AM
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#3 (permalink) | |
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Crazy
Location: Bat Country
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Its obvious what is to be done here, we must gather a fellowship and take it to mount doom. I'm free next friday
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Le Berger, Le Mouton, Ce qui vous mangerait? Je ne sais pas. -let it all drop cause fuck it I guess we lost- Quote:
<Krost> ^^ <Krost> I'm American so excuse my president. |
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06-28-2005, 11:40 AM
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#4 (permalink) |
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Lover - Protector - Teacher
Location: Seattle, WA
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"This is the hour of the TFP-folk, when they arise
from their quiet fields, to shake the towers and counsels of the Great. Who of all the Wise could have foreseen it?" "You carry the fate of us all, little one. If this is indeed the will of the Council, then TFP will see it done!"
__________________
"I'm typing on a computer of science, which is being sent by science wires to a little science server where you can access it. I'm not typing on a computer of philosophy or religion or whatever other thing you think can be used to understand the universe because they're a poor substitute in the role of understanding the universe which exists independent from ourselves." - Willravel |
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| Tags |
| life, story |
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