It was a normal day in the village-town of Chumly. The sun was out. The weather was cool. The rain was so gentle it was more mist than rain.

Minshee had finished her chores in the home and the garden. She was in their backyard under a tree practising her sword-fighting skills with her magical toy wood-sword she had named Bowzhong.

After a few minutes of hard practice she flopped down onto the ground under the tree. She didn't put Bowzhong back into the sheath that hung from her belt. She lay on her back to rest.

She saw it! A monster sitting on a branch looking down at her.

Minshee jumped up and scrambled to grab Bowzhong. The monster just sat there looking at her, calmly.

With Bowzhong in her hand Minshee got ready to fight the monster. She became aware she had not been warned by Bowzhong of the monster's presence.

Among its magical powers her toy wood-sword would hum for only her ears to hear every time there was danger at hand.

This time her Bowzhong had not hummed for her.

Minshee was puzzled. She did not lower Bowzhong as she walked slowly and cautiously towards the monster, keeping her eyes riveted up on it.

The monster yawned, lazily. Minshee had to force herself to stand her ground and not jump backwards at the sight of the monster's four red tongues and its countless huge teeth and fangs.

The monster spoke. It had a soft lazy voice.

"Do not be afraid, Minshee, little girl. I'm not going to attack you. I'm here to ask you a favour."

"I don't do favours for monsters" said Minshee. "Yes, you do," said the monster stifling another mighty lazy yawn with one of its seven massive paws.

Minshee noticed its paws did not have toes, fingers, or claws. Each paw ended in what looked like a hard clenched fist.

"You helped that good-monster girl the other day. I saw you. I've been watching you from before that. I've been trying to get up enough courage to talk to you, Chumly girl with that magical sword."

"Courage?" asked Minshee. "Since when do monsters not have courage?"

"Since me, I guess" said the monster. "As you know, Minshee, I was made by one of those animal-head creatures to be a weapon against the other animal-head creature. I think it was the monkey-head one made me for him to throw at the donkey-head one. I was a harmless stone before that, Minshee, for countless years.

A harmless stone. As a stone, Minshee, I did not need to eat or drink. I did not need to sleep because I did not get tired. I was not uncomfortable in heat or cold.

Minshee, I don't want to go on living as a monster. I would much prefer turning back into a stone. I know that's never going to happen. I want you, please, to touch me with Bowzhong so that I can turn into dust. After all, what is dust but a lot of tiny, tiny stones, huh?"

Nothing about monsters surprised Minshee, anymore. She had fought too many and turned too many into dust with Bowzhong.

"I can't help you" Minshee said. "Bowzhong has powers to turn into dust only things that try to harm me. You do not want to harm me. That's why Bowzhong did not warn me you were near."

"I know, I know" said the monster. "I heard what you told that monster girl. I have to throw myself at you. If I fall on you that will hurt you, won't it? Then Bowzhong will do its thing. Right?"

"Uh-huh" agreed Minshee. She held tightly onto Bowzhong with both hands and raised it in front of her, its point straight at the monster. She spread her feet bent her knees slightly and took a firm stance on the ground readying herself for the monster's attack.

The monster slowly and lazily slid down the tree and flopped onto the ground in a heap like a bundle of wet rags. Then it straightened itself slowly and sluggishly to stand up. When it was at its full height it was many times Minshee's height.

"Whoa!" she exclaimed silently to herself "There's going to be a mighty lot of dust from this one. There's just not enough wind. I'll be coughing and sneezing into the middle of next week."

With a weak apologetic smile the monster said "Let's wait until there's a wind. Then you stand with the wind blowing from you to me. That way the dust will blow away from you."

"Thank you" returned Minshee. Nonetheless, she still kept Bowzhong lifted and pointing at the monster.

This monster seemed sincerely to not want to harm her. Like that good-monster girl. However, Minshee couldn't take any chances.

A thought came to her which changed her attitude to the monster.

"You know," she said to the monster while she sheathed Bowzhong "there seems to be no rules for monsters. You said you would like to return to being a stone. Have you tried it?"

"No" said the monster, "What would I try?"

"We could go back and find the spot where that monkey-head pulled you out of the ground. There will still be a hole there. You could climb back into the hole and see what happens. If nothing happens you can still throw yourself at me and I will use Bowzhong to swipe you into dust."

The monster's eyes lost their lazy sleepy look. They opened wide.

"That's such a sensible idea" said the monster. "Why didn't I think of that?"

"Do you remember where you were as a stone?" "Uh, sorry. I know it was somewhere on the slopes of this mountain."

"Let me go find Dad and Mom. We will help you look."

"Can I come with you to meet Dad and Mom?"

"Not a good idea. They will be too scared to hear what I tell them about you. You climb back into the tree and hide from everybody until I return."

The monster climbed back into the tree. Minshee went to find Dad and Mom to tell them about the good monster.

The four of them searched the mountain slopes for almost an hour before they found the hole.

The monster remembered the surroundings because of other rocks half-buried in the ground. The monster jumped into the hole and made itself comfortable. It wasn't easy with those seven legs. It was a good thing that Dad and Minshee and Mom had brought shovels. They dug all around the perimeter of the hole to make it larger to accommodate the monster’s seven legs.

Dad said to the monster "How about you stay there for a while and we will come back in a day or two and see if you have changed back into a stone?"

"If I haven't changed by then will you let me throw myself at Minshee so that she can clout me with Bowzhong?"

"Yes" said Minshee. "I really wish that won't be necessary."

“And,” Mom said, “we will bring food to have a picnic if you haven’t changed back by then.”

When Dad and Minshee and Mom returned two days later, there was no monster. There was just a huge boulder jutting out of the ground.

The three of them sat on the ground with their backs leaned up against the boulder and had a picnic with the food they had brought. They knew the monster would have liked that.

From time to time after that the family would come and have a picnic around that stone that became a good monster and then became a stone again.