I noticed the stone because it was heavier than it should have been.
It lay near the roadside, half buried in dust. Gray. Rough. Ordinary. The kind of thing you step over without a second thought.
Still, I picked it up.
The weight surprised me. Not enough to strain my hand, but enough to make me pause. I turned it slowly, feeling its uneven surface press against my skin.
A useless stone.
That's what it was.
And yet, I slipped it into my pocket.
As I walked home, I felt its presence with every step. The weight pulled my pocket down slightly, grounding me. It was solid. Real. Something that wouldn't disappear if I looked away.
Halfway down the road, a voice stopped me.
"Hey."
I turned. A man on a bicycle had slowed beside me. His eyes weren't on my face—they were on my pocket.
"What are you carrying?" he asked.
I opened my mouth to answer.
Just a stone.
Instead, I hesitated.
I took it out and held it up. The late sunlight touched its surface, not enough to make it shine—just enough to make it look unfamiliar.
"This?" I said calmly. "It's a diamond."
He laughed. "That's not a diamond."
"It's uncut," I replied. "Straight from the ground. Two kilograms."
The laughter died instantly.
His eyes narrowed as he leaned closer, studying the stone. The doubt in his face slowly changed into something else—interest.
"Two kilograms?" he muttered. "Do you have any idea what that's worth?"
"Not really," I said. "A lot, I guess."
He swallowed and glanced around the empty road. His voice dropped. "You shouldn't walk around with something like that. People would kill for it."
"I know," I said.
After a moment, he rode away, looking back more than once—as if expecting the stone to reveal itself once he was gone.
I stood there, the stone resting in my palm.
Nothing had changed.
It was still gray. Still rough. Still a stone.
Yet something around it felt different.
When I reached home, I placed it on my desk and stared at it under the light. It didn't glow. It didn't sparkle. It didn't pretend to be anything it wasn't.
I smiled.
The stone didn't need to become a diamond.
People only needed to believe it was one.