Yazen (Ponith) Read Online Free PDF Page B

she’s still coming tomorrow.
    I put my phone on its charger and go to bed for the night. I don’t even want to recollect the day I had today.

Chapter Three
     
    “Wake up, Zac! Get dressed and meet me in the living room,” Grandpa yells as he knocks loudly on my bedroom door.
    He startles me awake and I immediately sit up in bed. I was dreaming that Jenn and I were out at the river all alone, swimming and laughing. I look over at the clock and its 7:30 in the morning. I don’t understand why I can’t sleep in on my summer break.
    I roll out of bed , grab some clothes out of my closet, and head to the bathroom to shower. I finish getting ready and head down to see what my grandpa woke me up so early for. I know he’s going to lecture me about going into the woods yesterday unprepared, waking me up this early as punishment. Probably a full day of chores as penance.
    As I enter the living room, my grandpa is sitting on the couch with the camping bag that I got out of the attic for him. His face is stern, so I’m not sure how this conversation is going to go.
    “Good morning, Grandpa. I want to say I’m sorry again about yesterday. I promise it will never happen again; we were just being stupid,” I tell him while sitting on the couch next to him.
    “It’s okay, Zac. Y ou just have to remember everything I’ve taught you about the woods and how to survive. It’s very important, but that’s not why I called you down here. I’m not going lecture you; I just want to explain this bag to you, okay?” Grandpa asks sincerely.
    “Ye ah, of course. Sure,” I tell him. I’m shocked and curious to see what is in the bag. I watch as my grandpa picks it up and puts it on his lap. He undoes the snap and opens it. I scoot to the edge of my seat, trying to peer in the bag, but I can’t see inside of it.
    He reaches inside of the bag and pulls out a small, rainbow-colored, oval-shaped gem. He opens his hand with it on his palm and waits for me to grab it. I pick the gem up and look at it closely. It’s a strange gem, a type that I’ve never seen before. It looks valuable and I wonder why there are so many colors in it. It looks like it could be a gem that could be used in jewelry.
    I look over at my grandpa and he looks discouraged, let down. A frown on his brow. I don’t understand.
    “ What's wrong?” I ask him.
    “ Oh, nothing, Zac. I’m happy to finally show you this gem that I’ve had for a long time now,” he says.
    I t feels like he’s not telling me something, holding something back.
    I roll the gem between my hands trying to get a closer look, when I see something catch my eye inside the gem. It’s a reflection, a dull light that plays off the colors in the stone. I bring it closer to my face to get a better look. It rolls off the green, blue, and white parts and I have to blink my eyes just a bit as it reflects just right into my eyes. My hand begins to tingle, as if it were falling asleep, and I drop the gem on the floor in surprise, rubbing and stretching my hand.
    “Oh geez, I’m sorry , Grandpa. I didn’t mean to drop it, but my hand just cramped on me,” I say with regret. I look over and see my grandpa smiling. I’m a little shocked and relieved, as he doesn’t look mad at me for dropping it on the floor.
    “ It works!” he says while picking up the gem, “Do you remember the stories I used to tell you about the other planets? The ones in the paintings that you were told weren’t accounted for in your school’s history books?” he asks me.
    I nod my head yes.
    “Well, bear with me for just a moment but I want to explain these planets to you some more. I think I have quite an adventure in store for you this summer that I want you to do instead of sleeping in all day. You can take a few friends with you and, actually, I’d prefer it if you did that. It would be a lot safer and I think you would have a lot more fun,” he says while going back to the bag. He pulls out a big leather