The five Stone kids were racing across the hills back home after a half-an-hour's rest in a meadow. Ocean couldn't wait to be embraced in her mother's arms, and have her father tell a tale of his childhood near the fireplace like always. "Uh- guys?" Davis had stopped running. So had Rupert. Collins, Eliot, and Ocean paused and following the direction of Davis's pointing finger. "Is that smoke?" It was. The gray clouds polluted the evening sky a few hills ahead, in the spot where the Stone family's house sat. The three gasped. Rupert took charge immediately. "Eliot, Davis, and Ocean, stay here. Collins and I will go check it out." The two raced ahead, leaving the others in terrible nerve. Ten minutes later, and what felt like ten years, Collins and Rupert came back. They were both crying. "Go...." Rupert moaned and fell on his knees. Collins looked up at his older sister and shook his head slowly, as if it hurt him. Ocean grasped his hand, and hoped what she feared was not the reality. "Come on, Davis and Eliot." She said tightly. The three trudged down the hill and across two more before they saw a horrifying sight. The large oak tree that stood beside their home had fallen, and crushed the house. The structure was in ruins, every bit of it, and was aflame. Ocean stood frozen, tears forming in her pretty blue eyes. Eliot was screaming as if he was in pain and was curled up on the floor, and Davis had fallen to his knees, weeping softly. Eliot got up, still balling and screaming, and raced into the fire. "ELIOT NO!!" Ocean yelled and ran after him. She found him ducking under the tree and into what used to be the kitchen. "MAMA! PAPA!" He screamed and looked around wildly. Ocean grabbed him around the waist as he tried to run through fire into the living room. He squirmed, kicked, hit, bit, and scratched at her, but she held fast, with her eyes closed softly as she imagined her mother's strong grasp around her. Ocean dragged Eliot out of the rubble and found Rupert, Collins, and Davis inspecting the fallen tree. Eliot gave up and Ocean set him down to lay and mourn in the charred grass as she went towards her other brothers. "The tree was chopped. No lightning could have made a cut this clean. And we saw no storm." Collins informed Ocean. "I can see that myself." Oceans muttered. Collins didn't argue, he was wiser than to do so with his snappy sister. But Collins was right. The cut had the marks of an axe, not lighting. So someone purposefully chopped down the huge oak and struck a match to destroy the Stone home. "What about Mama and Papa?" Oceans asked. Rupert replied, pointing to the open insides of the tree, "We found this message. Look." Ocean tilted her head and gasped when she read it. 'THE LITS WILL PAY'
