Two Stones is for a 36-page picture book for a young school reader that tells a small story about how a young girl feels when her parents argue. The WC is 1190, and there are 20 photo images and 10 universal symbolic images. I partnered with NYC Photographer Todd Weinstein for the photographic images. The young girl was selected because she could be perceived as a member of any race. (she is Caucasian, Latina, and Filipino) The illustrations are made using black and white Polaroid negative images and the text is accompanied by a set of 10 universal symbols that coincide with the happenings. In addition, the book has a URL link to a companion video, on page three of the print piece. Two Stones Young Analisa stands quietly in the late afternoon sun on the shore of Lake Michigan, preoccupied with the memory of an argument between her parents just shortly before their arrival to their vacation cottage: So begins Ron Teachworth's short story "Two Stones." So distracted is Analisa that at first she fails to hear a voice, and when she does is startled to find that the voice is that of a stone: "Don ́t be afraid," the stone tells her. "I am here for you to find. I have been waiting a long time. Please don ́t be afraid." Reading between the lines of this entertaining story for young people, we detect the inner workings of the Self, the whole of who we are, with its fragile persona. The two stones become a metaphor for the young girls' parents. Out of the depths of the Self comes native wisdom and insight, and for Analisa the teaching of the stones is the basic text of being in relationship with others. Ron Teachworth is a writer who tells stories of depth to and about young people.
