Exodus

As he neared the end of the path, the forest began to thin out. He looked out upon what was in front of him. He began to hear a loud, almost rythmic sound, as though someone was throwing pebbles at his window.

He woke up. Someone was throwing pebbles at his window. He walked over to the window. He opened it and stuck his head through to look down to the ground. There was no one there. Something hit him on the head and he recoiled into the safety of his room. Pebbles poured through the window and landed on his floor. He knelt down to pick one up. It glittered as he reached down. His eyes widened.

"What the hell?" he asked out loud. "These are diamonds!"

He threw on some clothes, not even bothering with his morning ablutions. He ran out of the building after racing down the stairs. He nearly tripped over the threshold of Thallow Flats. There was a commotion coming from the vacant lot. He headed that way. There was no one there. There was nothing there. Not really, anyway. The lot had been blasted into oblivion. Shattered asphalt lay everywhere.

"What the hell?!"

No one could hear his exclamation over the chatter of the crowd across the street. A few people were closer to the lot, but they seemed to be silent, at least from his perspective.

Diamonds were still raining from the sky. He knelt down and picked up a handful.

He looked at the people around him. Most were scrambling around hoarding the diamonds. He looked into his own hand. He held dozens of diamonds. He began to walk back into Thallow Flats. As he walked away from the scene of hysteria behind him, he dropped the diamonds on the ground.

"It's time to leave," he said to no one in particular. "It looks like I'll miss the game tonight."