The rock stared up at the bench. It had been sitting beside this bench ever since a child had picked it up from the grass not far away, carried the rock over to their mother, who was sitting on the bench, and proudly displayed the rock. The mother did not want the child to take the rock home, saying it was dirty. Which, to be fair, was accurate. The rock had been sitting in grass and dirt and had been peed on by dogs, bugs, and even humans.
But that didn't stop the rock from feeling a bit hurt. It would've liked to have seen more of the world than the quarry, the truck, and then this park. What would the child have done with it? Would the child have painted it? Displayed it with other prized possessions? Put it in a garden? The rock could only wonder.
But now it was beside the bench, which wasn't a bad view. A lot of people came and went from the bench throughout the days, so the rock saw a lot.
Last night, several drunk frat bros had tried to jump it. Luckily, they had a sober friend who directed their blurred attentions elsewhere.
This morning, sadly, Steve was back on the bench. Steven often slept on the bench beside the rock. Not every night though, so the rock wondered where he went on those nights. Hopefully somewhere comfier and cozier. Steve blinked himself awake, stretched what must be aching joints, and got up. Where Steve was headed, the rock did not know for it could not see far past the bench.
Next, was Lacey with her morning coffee. Nearly five days a week, Lacey sat with a disposable coffee cup, sipped from it, and read the newspaper in the morning. She would repeat this behavior in the evening. Lately, though, the rock had noticed that another man had been sitting on the bench opposite of the rock's bench whenever Lacey was around. The rock thought the guy looked at Lacey a bit too long and a bit too hard, but what could the rock do? Lacey hadn't seemed to notice the man, and so the rock tried to shrug off the feeling of foreboding.
Lacey concluded her section of the newspaper, disposed of her coffee cup, and ran to catch her bus. The man on the other bench watched her every step of the way and then left in another direction.
Soon, it was playground time. That's what the rock called it when the parents and caregivers came with their kids to visit the playground and parked themselves on the rock's bench. There were fewer people out than normal--the gray day was the rock's guess as to why. But still, the rock was treated to children delightfully calling out to each other with imaginary games.
The rock hoped one of the kids would pick it up, but they never did.
Playground time eventually ended and then Lacey was back. She had a new cup of coffee and a different section of the newspaper. She settled herself on the rock's bench and soon, the same man that had been watching her was back on the opposite bench.
This time though, he didn't stay on his bench. He approached Lacey and tried to get her attention by calling out her name.
Lacey started and looked at the man. She did not recognize him.
She tried to leave gracefully, but the man grabbed her arm.
The rock wanted to intervene, but what could it do?
Lacey tried to break free, but the man had her.
The park was somehow empty.
No one was there to help Lacey.
But then, Steve came bounding up. He shouted at the man, but the man would not let Lacey go.
Steve picked up the rock, and struck Lacey's attacker.
The rock was relieved and horrified at the same time as blood dripped down it. The man let go of Lacey and fell to the ground.
Lacey screamed, but seemed relieved.
Finally, other people appeared and someone took out their cell phone to call for help.
Soon, the police came and took the rock away, calling it "evidence."
(Prompt by ChatGPT, but I swear I wrote a similar story in middle school)
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