The Stone Walkers

A depressed eighteen-year-old

An old couple with a terrible secret

A new exploration on an ancient mountain

In the bowels of the mountain, two boulders leaned against a wall in a small chamber. Everything was as it had been for years upon years. No sounds from the explorers working on the surface above penetrated to the chamber. It was the deepest of the deep places. Then the air changed. The change was barely discernible, but it was there.

One of the boulders moved. Slowly, impossibly, it stood upright. A grating sound came from it, and the other boulder slowly moved upward. For a long time, the boulders stood next to each other, motionless. Finally, as if hearing a cue only they could hear, they moved forward out of the small chamber.

The Stone Walkers were walking again.