Athanassios Kontokostas

The Solitary Stone Athanassios Kontokostas

The geologist examined the rock with interest. It was an ore shot through with reddish green veins and its surface bore the imprint of a fossilized fish. A half-remembered memory flashed through his mind but of what specifically? He had recently seen a similar rock pattern somewhere. He stopped and used his pick axe to chip off a piece of the rock. His companions were staring at him in surprise. "What has gotten into you?" they asked. "Job conditioning" he replied as he placed the rock specimen in his anorak pocket. Another squirrel was examining him with curiosity. They continued their descent. "When I get to the lab tomorrow morning I will run a spectrographic test on this piece of rock to identify it,"he thought to himself. "Then I will add it to my collection."