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“Life is either a great adventure or nothing.” Helen Keller* “The wonderful thing about an ‘adventure’ story is that one gets to enjoy drama, suspense, thriller, and love stories all in one book.” Charles Young

In the tradition of Charles Dickens, the adventure of a life well lived is fascinatingly told by Charles Young in his book, Burning Stone: Friendship Of Fire, (the first of two books) which is about the exciting adventure of an intriguing young man, Addam Dammon, who thought his entire predictable life was planned out for him. When a mysterious ‘call’, from the Burning Stone, came to him, his life quickly took an unexpected path, including anything but ‘predictable’, and filled with surprises. His adventure eventually takes him across the Three Kingdoms, meeting a variety of people, including a partnership with a powerful General, and going into the courts and homes of the Kings. With his life in danger several times, and the lives of others in the balance, this is a story about choosing to live a life of purpose, and being amazed at seeing just what that means, again and again. From his initial expectation of a plain life with little impact, his life with the Burning Stone turned into a dynamic and meaningful one where life after life, and kingdom after kingdom was touched, changed, and even enlivened by Addam and the Burning Stone. Together the two prove that life is by far the greatest adventure.
* Courtesy of the American Foundation for the Blind, Helen Keller Archives

EXCERPT FROM THE BOOK: Then with a vile smile, he said, “Let me see you pick it up, if you can.” With his sword pointed at me, making me quite nervous and the devious smile on his face unsettling me further, I stood still and asked the Stone “What should I do? This man is up to something and I think that I am not going to like it.” After a minute of silence, the Stone said, “You are right, he is up to evil. I need you to trust me. I said that I would take care of you and the best way for me to do that right now is to have you pick me up and keep me very close to you. Just trust me.” With that I slowly knelt down, set my pouch down and opened it then placed one hand on the Stone, picked it up and placed it in my bag. As I stood up and placed the strap of the pouch over my head and shoulder, I turned to look at the official. It was the evil look on his face, something I’d never seen before, that frightened me to the point of goose bumps. There was a look of anger, hate, and jealousy all mixed together. His hand and the sword’s blade were shaking with anger. Then in a loud shaking voice, he said, “So you think you’re some kind of trickster because the Stone lets you pick it up and not me! Well, we’ll see about that. You will take it to my house and leave it there for me!” I was dumbfounded and speechless. The Stone spoke and said, “Tell him that he has no right to the Stone and that the Stone will not allow itself to be taken to his home!” Out loud I said to the Stone, “What about his sword?” and all three people in the room gave me a puzzled look. The Stone replied, “Trust me!” Mustering all my courage, I said, “The Stone and I are leaving, Official Haggert. You have no right to the Stone. Please do not try to stop us.” Myanna’s entire body was shaking and now she started crying as she was sure that I would be killed. With a slightly shaky faith, I knew that somehow the Stone would stop the official so I started to move towards the doorway. I had only made it one step when the official struck out at me with the blade of the sword, piercing the strap of the pouch but also pushing the blade deep into my shoulder. Searing pain shot through my chest. The pouch fell off my shoulder and the official quickly shot out his other hand and caught the strap. With a look of smug triumph, he pulled the pouch to himself and withdrew the sword from my shoulder. I looked down and pulled at my cut shirt, tearing it open. I saw blood flowing out of the gash in my chest, spilling down my clothes and towards the floor. Overwhelmed by the pain, my eyes started to lose focus and I could feel myself falling. As I lay there, I heard the official say, “Thank you, thief, for putting it in the pouch for me. I guess it is my role now to take it to its next companion, that being me!” By now, Myanna was leaning over me and pressing a small pillow over my wound, trying to stop the flow of blood. As the official turned around, motioning to the soldier that they were to leave, the pouch turned a deep red color, clearly emanating heat. It swung and brushed my head, lightly bumping into me. It was at that moment the pouch burst into flames, quickly setting the official’s clothes on fire. He screamed, dropped the pouch and started swatting at the flames on his coat. The pouch fell in several flaming pieces and the Stone hit the ground with a hard thud less than a foot from me. I was losing sight of the people in the room, barely aware of the soldier pulling the burning coat off the official and of Myanna crying loudly. All I could see at this moment was the bright red Stone. I heard it say loudly, “Pick me up!” I replied weakly, “I can’t, I am too weak and… I think I am dying.” Even louder it said again, “Pick me up now!” The jolt of the voice stirred me a little and, with the last small reservoir of my strength, I reached out. A new streak of pain shot through my body, but I managed to pull the Stone over against me. That was the best I could do. I hugged it to me as hard as I could as I lost consciousness. As I held the Stone, losing all thought of anything else but my extreme pain and labored breathing, I heard the Stone say, “Thank you for coming to get me.” It was then that I noticed a tingling sensation in my hands and arms; at first I thought this must be what it’s like to die but the sensation grew and filled my chest, head and the rest of my body. With the tingling feeling came an intense heat, which I assumed was from the Stone. Soon the tingling sensation was so strong that I could not feel the pain any longer. The thought passed through me that maybe the Stone was burning my body, as he had Jamar in the town of Wilmont Pass. The tingling turned into a long strong jolt and I recall screaming out in surprise as I exploded with an incredible, wonderful sensation filling every part of my body. I saw a brilliant flash of light, though my eyes were shut. With the scream, I jerked open my eyes and saw everything in the room clearly. The official was over in the doorway, looking at me with a mixture of surprise and fear. His jacket lay between us, smoke still rising from it. I just barely caught sight of the soldier running out of the doorway into the hall. Myanna was still on the floor but had moved back a little from me and was staring wide-eyed at me. The Stone, I noticed, I had clasped tightly to my chest. I sat up slowly and let the Stone move down to my lap. Both the official and the lady of the house were looking at me, my chest in particular. I looked down at the now torn shirt and in place of the gash and flowing blood was a scar, sealed shut as though by surgery, but better than any surgery I’d even seen. The two sides of the cut flesh were shut completely and matched perfectly, leaving only a thin white line and dried blood. The torn edge of my clothes was singed from the heat of the Stone. It was then that the Stone spoke again. “Pick me up.” I shook loose my thoughts from what had just happened and moved to stand up. Myanna moved to stop me but with only a glance from me, she stood and backed away, giving me room to get up. I held onto the Stone as I grasped the post of the bed tightly and pulled myself up to a standing position. The official did not move, his pale white face now filled with fear. I looked at Myanna and asked, “Do you have a pouch or bag that I can carry the Stone in?” She immediately reached into the closet and pulled out small traveling bag covered in yellow flowers, meant for carrying women’s shoes. I took it from her, slid the Stone into it, and turned and walked towards the door. Official Haggert stepped back out of my way. I walked carefully down the stairs. Syrill was there, as was the soldier from the master bedroom, both of them watching my every step.