"I remember Jeffrey said to me, 'I'm going to change the world and you're coming with me.' "
"At first I didn't really believe him. Although as his friend I decided to at least try to do what he asked. He was really nervous about it as well", Preston recalled.
Jeffrey countered saying, "I was not!"
Preston waved him aside and continued. "I had a jar that Jeffrey had made and the first few times no one wanted it. That really sucked"
Preston looked at his backpack. He seemed to stare through it.
"It wasn't until Jeffrey got rejected by a group of 6th grade girls that I saw that he got rejected as well", Preston described the day that he decided the join Jeffrey.
"I thought, 'man, Jeffrey does not know how to talk to girls.' However, he was pretty good at talking about it. He was the one who sold the first three jars of Oobleck that we made", Preston praised his friend.
"It was something about how Jeffrey looked that encouraged me to keep going. Maybe it was because he looked so sad, but I thought 'if he could do it, so could I' ", Preston finished telling his story.
That day Jeffrey indifferently continued eating a chimichanga, he heard this story before. However that week was definitely a special one.
Jeffrey kept running around, he had endless amounts of energy in that 5 or 6 AM in the morning. Eventually, after all that excitement he turned back.
His slow steps walked the road that took him home. This street was an old one, from his days in elementary and pre-school it was always the same. However today Jeffrey felt a warm feeling about it. Years from now, he'll probably think back to this day.
"I'll be twenty some day and I hope when that day comes I have a story to tell", Jeffrey thought.
Grabbing a rock from near the pavement. Jeffrey played an old game he played with his grandparents. His grandma taught him while they were walking to the bus station when he was entering Kindergarten.
He'd try to kick the rock along the path, trying to keep it as straight as possible. If he kicked it off, he could place it back on the road or sidewalk. However, each of them only got 3 chances or three lives as he liked to think of it.
Kick it slow and he'd lose the race. Kick it hard and he risked losing time looking for it and placing it back on the path.
The flat rocks were always the best, they made for great kicking stones. Jeffrey was never good at skipping rocks, but this rock kicking game was something only he and his grandma shared.
One day, grandma taught it to Raine and Saoirse. It was fun racing them, however the way grandma walked and kicked the rock just felt special to him.
Jeffrey stayed behind just enough so that he was ahead of her.
Jeffrey kicked the stone in front of him. Some of the nearby houses were turning on as the sun began to rise.
Jeffrey saw the familiar bushes and trees near his house. The garage was in view and so was the front door.
Jeffrey turned the knob to enter his house as the familiar smells of wood and kitchen countertop struck him.
He was home. His parents and sisters were probably still sleeping upstairs. Today just felt like Christmas to him and that feeling would carry with him for the rest of the day.
his ipod quietly played a song from The Chronicles of Narnia.
♪♫♪
Pick a star on the dark horizon
And follow the light
You'll come back
When it's over
- Regina Spektor "The Call"