Antoine jumped out of his ship and grabbed the shining rock and the box of memories. Holding onto both, Antoine ran down the single dirt road in front of him, all the way to his house. Inside he found his mother baking pies.

"Antoine, where have you been?" she asked.

Antoine told her of his adventures. He mentioned how he magically appeared on a giant step and began to fly through space all the way back home. His mother told him to stop playing outside so much, that it wasn't healthy. She then told him to start organizing his things, because he would be going to school the next day.

And so Antoine began to grow older. He began to forget about his adventures and began to think only of important things: making the best of his time, getting married, protecting his country, and retiring early. But most of all, he tried to be as normal as possible.

When he was 26 he was married and had three kids. To make sure that they all grew up to be useful members of society, he taught them to do what everyone else does, and above all else, follow orders. Two of them grew up to be teachers, and one became a lawyer. Antoine was extremely proud of their accomplishments.

At the age of 63, Antoine's wife died in a car accident. Driving to her funeral, he noticed three crowds spread across the area all morning the loss of a loved one. The only one to attend the funeral was Antoine and his kids, as the family was fairly private. For the next two years, Antoine suffered through extreme depression. The thought of killing himself entered his mind several times, but Antoine would always remember that normal people do not have such thoughts.

16 years later, Antoine was permanently put in a hospital. His heart was having trouble constantly, and it eventually began easier to just keep him there. His kids, who were living in other countries now, only came by once, and that was to bring him a suitcase that he had left at home. When asked what was in the suitcase, Antoine said that it was filled with his childhood, and that he would like to remember the times when he was young. One by one his children left him, each to go to different places in the world, while Antoine lay in his hospital bed.

The suitcase was filled mostly with cloths and drawings. He found a picture he had drawn when he was four of his family. He was in the center, reaching up to hold the hands of his mother and father. He found the first story he had ever written, which was about an elephant that had gotten lost in the forest.

In the bottom of the suitcase, Antoine found a small empty box and a dull gray rock. Staring at the two objects, one in each hand, Antoine smiled. He closed his eyes and slept for a very long time.