It happened early last September. It had been two years since I got my driver's license, and I was finally getting used to driving. Taking advantage of the weekend, I decided to drive out alone to a mountain near the prefecture border—one that wasn't too steep, at least at first. Remembering how I used to go mushroom picking with my old man when I was a kid, I searched for a trail, found a likely spot, parked my car more or less at random (since nobody else was going to be there anyway), and started climbing.
About an hour into the walk, I was rudely reminded of how out of shape I was. Ever since getting my license, I hardly ever walked or rode a bicycle, so I suppose it was only natural. As I was climbing along a completely ordinary path—well, it certainly wasn't a paved road, but a gentle trail where absolutely nothing out of the ordinary should have happened—I suddenly twisted my ankle and lost my balance, tumbling off toward the stream alongside the path. I rolled down and crashed hard against what looked like a rocky area. I passed out right then and there, and when I finally came to, it was already past 3:00 PM. I must have been out for about thirty minutes, and during that time I had a sort of dream. This is where things get weird. Suddenly, a dragon appeared right in front of me. It wasn't like a snake; it looked more like a Western-style dragon with the front legs of a lizard or an iguana. And it looked troubled.
It said to me, "Down the stream a bit from where you're sleeping, there's a huge pile of dead leaves and garbage clogging it up. Could you do something about it? Also, if you go a bit further down, there's an old tire dropped in the water, so I'd like you to get rid of that too."
At that point, I woke up. Dragging my sprained ankle, I headed down the stream and found the exact spots it mentioned. Dizzily, I cleared away the debris and kept going down. I found the tire. If there had been a massive pile of them, I would have been resentful, but there was only one. I could manage that much. Just as I finished, a sudden wave of drowsiness washed over me, and I fell into another dream.
"Thank you. You're a very good person," the dragon said. "I'll give you this as a reward. This is the stone of blessing and curse. As long as you have it, most bad things won't come near you. On the downside, it also keeps external luck and opportunities away, so figure out how to use it yourself. See ya."
When I woke up again, it was almost evening. There was a milky-white pebble in my back pocket. Since I’d been lying on my back, my butt hurt like hell. For some reason, my sprained ankle was completely healed, and even the dirt on my clothes was gone—like some kind of magic. It was getting dark, so I rolled the tire away and just went home. And when I walked down following the stream, I realized I’d parked right nearby the whole time. Unbelievable.
Later on, the wife of the head priest at a local temple—someone who is known for "seeing" things—took one look at me and immediately said, "You're carrying something insanely powerful. What on earth is that?" Because of that, I figured it wasn't just nonsense, but what in the world is this stone? I wonder if it's something I could use when going to haunted places, at least.
Sorry, I don't have any way to upload a photo—only a scanner... Honestly, it just looks like a poorly shaped, three-to-four-centimeter pebble you could find anywhere. It's an ordinary-looking colored stone you might occasionally come across by a riverbed. Right now, it's just sitting on display in the storage shed. Folktale-style endings are scary, and the idea of things staying completely neutral—neither good nor bad—feels a lot like a bucket of water just sitting there. Whether the exact moment you're in is happy or unhappy. Though maybe keeping it in the car would be a good idea. Not like I have any girls to drive around anyway.
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