The fisherman threw the rock. How rude. The rock sailed through the air towards the worker that had shoved the fisherman. Violence begets violence. The fisherman desired revenge for his broken net. He wanted his fishing spot back. And most of all, he wanted payback for being shoved. It was just a reflexive push and the fisherman probably understood that, but it was infuriating. Physical contact and the shame of falling down so easily paired together with a touch of impulsion and rage.

All of this was invested into the rock. The rock carried everything as it flew. It fueled its flight. As for the worker, his back was turned. An easy target. The other workers tried to warn him, but there wasn’t enough time. Instead, the worker turned in confusion just in time to see the rock…

..fall flat a few feet ahead of him. Before he could even process the situation, the fisherman fled into the woods. The rock could not handle the emotions invested into it, weighing it down. If the fisherman could not hold the conviction to stay and take responsibility for his actions, then how could such a conviction send the rock all the way. In reality, the rock was quite heavy and the old man was too weak to throw it that far even when angry. However, it’s nice to think of the symbolism and philosophy behind things. It keeps things interesting when you try to lie to yourself about there being a meaning behind things.

The work crew laughed off this situation. Nobody got hurt and the situation was resolved. It was quite selfish to be happy or amused about this situation. Then again, the fisherman had lost their sympathy already from his actions. The worker involved was less amused and wandered over to the rock. He picked up the rock and threw it. His throw sent it flying across the river and past a hill. The other workers laughed about this seemingly meaningless action, taking it as some sort of mockery of what the fisherman did.

This was the second time the rock was thrown in this chapter. It landed in a seemingly innocuous patch of dirt. The ground was dug up around this spot, indicating there was once a tree here that got de-rooted. A patch of dirt was the rock’s new home. The rock would stay here until chapter 2.