River Journey

"Soon what had at first been a friendly
 stream became a raging river."

       It is quite strange to think that living in a great twentieth century city is probably the most peaceful thing that ever happened to me. I suppose that is because I'm a pebble and have lived for hundreds of thousands of years in a world so fantastic that few things excite me any more. I was certainly frightened, however, the day that I first found myself in that very amazing world.

       So long ago, I had nestled underground in my own small part of the vast mass of rock that was my home. I felt safe after all that time and had no worries at all until I became aware of a distant and strange noise that grew louder and louder till it seemed to be roaring from just above me. I had never heard anything like it, and I was terrified at what it might mean.

       Suddenly I felt something flowing over part of me. I thought at first that it was a liquid rock such as I had been in my youth, but I realized that this liquid was cool. In time I came to understand that this was one of the most important substances on earth-just plain water. Soon what had at first been a friendly stream became a raging river. The rock around me was worn away and before long I was completely uncovered on all but one side. In the course of time even that rock was worn down and I found to my horror that I was slipping away. Then I was roughly pushed, dragged, and bounced along in the water, but I had no time to think of comfort now. I was scared!

       After a while I overcame my fears long enough to realize that I wasn't the only pebble being carried along by the swollen stream. We ranged in size from grains of sand to great boulders. Most of us were very young and therefore sharp and jagged. The river bottom along which we were moving was rough, and often we were thrown over cliffs and landed at the bottom bruised and shaken. In this way our sharp edges were worn down and we grew smoother and smaller as we got older.

"The light here was very dim and 
colors were dull and drab."

       Gradually our underwater path became less steep and bumpy. The water was calmer and we moved more slowly. By this time the river had widened so that I couldn't see its banks, and many of my companions were dropping behind. Finally I, too, came to a stop.

       The light here was very dim and the colors were dull and drab. Since there was nothing of interest around, I decided to move on, but much to my horror there was nothing I could do. Everything was very still except the water, the smaller pebbles, and the grains of sand. After a time I noticed that I was being covered by some of this material. Every day I was buried deeper and deeper by the drifting sand grains.

       At last I was completely covered. The weight of the sand and pebbles above increased. I couldn't tell how many hundreds of centuries I lay there, but by and by I realized that I was part of a hard mass of rock once more, for materials in the underground water had cemented all of us pebbles and sand grains together.

       I was a prisoner.