The Red Stone Ring

Posted on Jun 15, 2013 in Fiction | 0 comments

“THE RING WITH THE BRILLIANT RED STONE”

A hungry black crow was pecking through the sand on a rock and sea weed strewn beach hoping to find enough food to fill her empty stomach and give her the strength to keep searching until she had food to fill her three just hatched babies.  She could hear them even now, high in the eucalyptus tree nest crying for her to come feed them.  She was not having much luck, but she kept pecking, she was not the least bit choosey, she would be happy with sea critters that were often buried in this sand, or a worm hiding in the sea weed, she also often found potato chips, half eaten cookies, or bits of hot dog fallen from the hands of a child, rushing to get back to playing in the surf.

The weather must have been dull as she was not finding any people foods either.  With no other choice she carried on.  Then ahead she saw something shiny and thin like a worm with both ends poking into the sand.  She hurried to catch it in her beak before it escaped.  Grabbing the exposed middle she pulled and found herself with a very hard worm indeed.  

The shiny thing was a gold ring.  It slipped from her beak to the sand and she saw the front held a blood red stone.  It glittered and winked in the sun and she was so taken with its beauty that she decided to keep it anyway.  She slipped her right foot through the loop and pulled the blood stone until the ring was hanging loose on her leg.

Still hungry, she went back to the hunt.  Things quickly, almost magically, got a lot better as she reached a large patch left from a very elegant picnic lunch.  Everything she wished for was there on the sand, just waiting for her peck it up.  As soon as she was as full as she could get, she flew to her nest and filled her babies until even they could hold no more, something she did not know could happen.  

Every day she went back early in the morning, with her bright new gold good luck ring on the leg and always she found all she could eat and feed her quickly growing baby crows.

Once the babes were black with feathers and crowded in the nest, they began to fuss with each other and even their mother.  They wanted out… they wanted more… more space and more food and one day the largest and bossiest young crow even wanted the gold ring he saw on his mother’s leg.  

That drew the other’s attention to the gold ring and now they all wanted it and they began to fight.  To stop the fight the mother flew away and as she passed over a park she decided that there will be no more fighting over this and she bunched up her toes and let the ring drop off.  

That is much better, she thought.  She had a long flight to go and the ring was rather heavy for that distant trip. She did not plan to ever return to her old nest again.  Her work there was done.  Those three could now fend for themselves.  In a far way place, she would find a new mate and someday return to build another nest. 

In the park, the ring fell onto a rose bush.  As it hung on the branch, a sprout grew through it and then some leaves and an exceptional bud.  The prize bud was just beginning to open into a perfect red rose as brilliant as the stone in the gold ring it carried.  At that time a little girl who was hurrying through the park, paused, attracted by the rose’s wonderful fragrance.

Now everyone knows that you are not supposed to pick the flowers that grow in the park. Even a child knows that the flowers are there to be enjoyed by everyone. This child knew that too, but she was on the way to the hospital to see her mother, who was very sick.  She looked around and seeing no one, she pinched the long stem off, to take that exceptionally perfect rose to her mother. 

She had decided that maybe this beautiful, sweet smelling, rose would make her poor, sick mother feel better and she walked quickly through the park to the tall brick building on the far side of the path as she carried the flower carefully to her mother’s  hospital room.  

Her father and the doctor stood by her pale mother’s side with their heads down sadly, as if they expected the worst. 

As the child approached the bed, her mother opened her eyes and saw her little daughter holding that single rose out to her.  The doctor moved to stop her, but her father held him back.  What could it hurt now?  

As the woman lifted her hand to receive the bright cheerful flower, the gold ring that had been just beneath the bloom slipped into her hand and she smiled as she saw it.

How could her daughter have come to have such a lovely ring?  After admiring the brilliant, red, stone, she slipped it on her finger, and whispered, “Thank you.”

  All eyes centered on the ring and no one even noticed, at first, that the woman, herself, now glowed with rosy cheeks.  She turned and smiled at her husband, Sam, and handed him the magnificent flower, as she asked for the bed to be lifted a little.  Sitting higher, she reached for her child and brought her into a hug.

The doctor watched in amazement.  He had followed her attached monitoring equipment and saw that all of her vital signs had improved.  Was it the child the rose or the ring?  He wished he had some way to know the answer to that. 

Monica wore the pretty ring with the brilliant red stone that little Kyren had given her in the hospital for many years. The one time she had asked her about it, her daughter had shyly admitted that she had no money to buy her some flowers, so had, quite wrongly, picked that one perfect rose with the exceptional sweet fragrance, from the park garden as she walked through to visit her.  The ring must have been stuck on the flower.  She did not see it until it dropped from the stem.

However it had happened, and no one could ever guess how it got there, (even though we know) she enjoyed wearing it.  For some reason, she always felt so happy with it on.

Monica and Sam planned a cruise to Alaska for their wedding anniversary and as she packed for the trip she placed the ring on her hand, even though, lately it had felt a bit loose.  Going on the giant cruise ship made her feel somewhat fearful, but that gold ring with its brilliant red stone on her finger, her confidence returned.  She wondered briefly why that was.   

The children, Kyren and Hayden, were going to be cared for by her mother, Susan, for that week.  Just not needing to worry about their care should have been enough to make her comfortable about the trip, so why was she worried?  Silliness, that was all!  Monica shrugged it off and put on a happy smile. She did not want Sam to think she did not appreciate the cruise.

It was only the second day and Sam and Monica stood by the rail watching the California coast slip past.  The weather had stayed good so far so neither of them had shown any signs of sea sickness, not that they expected to.  Sam was an airplane pilot by profession and pretty used to all sorts of bumpy weather mixed in with the good.  Monica flew with him often and wondered herself why the ship should seem so different.

As she stood wondering, she fiddled with the ring, turning it on her finger, when it slipped off and went down to the water and very quickly out of sight.  Monica let out a tiny yelp as she watched it go.  Sam looked at her to understand her distressed sound.  He didn’t, as Monica didn’t tell him.  She simply stood speechless, looking at the water, which was already far from the ring’s final location… somewhere deep below and behind them.

She took a deep breath, and let it out slowly, she knew nothing could be done.  One could not get it back by crying out “Ring Over board!”  So she decided that this was probably the fate she had feared and now that it had happened… there would be nothing else to go wrong.  

She remembered that her grandmother had told her that after she lost her wedding ring and was mourning the fact, there was an earthquake in a distant country and she had watched on T.V. as hundreds of people had lost everything, many even their families!  It made her feel petty for crying over a ring, so she never did again.  Monica knew that this was going to be her attitude starting right now.  She smiled at Sam and suggested that they go check out the fantastic buffet that had been advertised.  

She would tell the others about the fate of the ring at a more convenient time.  Now was not that time.  

Actually, it was as if the ring had gone away just exactly as it had accidently dropped into her hand in the first place…fate. 

The ring rocked with the current as it descended and the sparkle of the gold and the red stone caught the eye of a large mouthed fish, heading for his birth place up stream in northern California, he swept under it mouth open and swallowed it.  That fish quickly grew much larger in the days that he traveled, and into a very exceptional Salmon, who strongly swam into his chosen stream for his final fate.  

His fate was not as he had expected.  He actually achieved great fame the way it happened.  A fisherman, who had entered this contest for the first time, caught him and won the contest.   Just because he was indeed a very fine specimen, Scott had his picture taken holding the largest, most beautiful, salmon he had ever seen

Scott and his wife Jackie had, as a very adventurous couple, done almost unbelievable things all over the world, like washing elephants and riding them, soaring over a coast line in South America on a kite like Para-glider and touring Africa to see the lions, zebras, and all of the animals that share the plains with them.  

On this day, Scott caught and won the contest with the largest fish and had taken that fish home with a blue ribbon, the cash prize and the photograph of him holding that fantastic salmon and given it to Jackie to clean and cook.  She was even willing.  That is why it was Jackie, who cleaned the fish and got ready to cook it for their guests, as it was much too large for the two of them to share alone.  Thus it was Jackie who found the gold ring with the brilliant red stone.  She washed it and tried it on her finger…it fit.  She loved it!

As she served her guests she moved her hands to show off the ring, which she decided was the real prize of the fishing contest.   When Scott took their guests into the den to show them his First Place, blue ribbon beside, the photo of him holding up the prize winning salmon and he had even banked the $100.00 check by telephoto and framed the original to hang with his display, Someone laughingly asked why the ring was not included.  So Jackie happily posed for the camera with her hand touching her chin to show off the stunning ring, as well as her winning smile.

Guess which photo made the papers?  From Canada to Mexico they had received hundreds of pictures of winners holding up their prize fish, but only one of a fabulous ring found inside of a fish. Thus the Jackie, wearing the red stone ring photograph, appeared in black and white, far and wide.

They received seventy five letters, so far, from people claiming to have lost that very ring.  Some went so far as to offer Jackie a reward for returning it.  But none had adequately described the ring, some calling the stunning center stone as blue, green or amethyst as it appeared in the black and white newsprint photo.  

No one had even tried to explain how the fish might have gotten it.  So the only one person, who could have guessed correctly, Monica, had not been one claiming the ring.  She would not have even if she had seen the paper, as she too knew she had only found it accidently. 

Somewhere, someone had actually been the original owner and lost it, but the mystery was not to be solved so easily.

Jackie continued to wear the attractive ring and was stopped so often by friends and others, who had seen the photo in the paper and wanted to see the real thing, until she grew bored with the story and placed it into her jewelry box for good.  

That might had been the end of this tale if it had stayed in that box, but it didn’t.  

While Scott and Jackie were on one of their adventurous trips, this one to Japan to ski Mount Fuji and parts of China, to have their walk on the Great Wall, and later go underwater to watch the sharks feed, their apartment was broken into and many of their electronic things, along with her jewelry box were taken.  

They were not trashed, so after their return, it took a few moments to realize what had happened.  A broken window set them to looking and only small things that would fit easily out of that hole in the window were missing. 

A list was made for both the Police and the Insurance Company.  If the listed things turned up, they would be told.

So far the ring had brought good health, good luck and happiness to all who had it.

Not so to the thief who stole it.  He began by giving the small gold ring with the simple red stone, obviously not a diamond, to his girl friend.  She wore it to work in a local restaurant.  One of the other waitresses saw it and recognized it from the newspapers.  This somehow led to the Police questioning the girlfriend and then searching the apartment of the thief, where a store-house of other people’s belongings were confiscated and returned to the owners if possible.  

The thief went to jail and the ring was once again famously in the papers as leading Police to solving a half a dozen break-ins.  So Jackie still could not get away with wearing the famous ring, so she put it on the WEB, where being famous was a plus.   We do not know what she was paid for it, but enough to make her very happy as it allowed them to plan another adventure, and especially as most of her other things were also returned with the jewelry box.

The buyer was a very rich man who liked to collect famous things.  He had some that belonged to famous people and others that were famous on their own.  He placed the ring in a case with a spot light, which made the brilliant red stone almost glow.  Newspaper clippings were framed to tell its unique story. His home was almost break proof, so what he collected in his famous basement room was destined to stay there forever.   Then he died,

His heirs were told in the Will what they must do with his collection, but most of them had other ideas.  None wanted the responsibility of caring for the intact collection.  He had left most of his money to his favorite charity and stated that if his collection was sold, one half of the money was to go to that same charity.

Two museums bid for the total collection and were dismissed.  If half of the money had to go to that one charity then the pieces would have to be sold separately to increase the profit. 

Qualified bidders were allowed to stroll through his basement museum and make offers on everything separately.  The ring with the brilliant red stone showed off beautifully in its lighted case and brought a very good price.  The buyer had a lovely actress in mind as perfectly suited to wear it. 

Not as a wife or mistress, but as a future star of one of his films.  This was his way to gain her some notoriety and insure the success of his movie.

He had to overcome two challenges.  He had chosen this young actress for her beauty and acting ability, and strangely, fate had given her a famous name, only not for herself, but for another, a fictional girl.

Just after this little beauty was born to Michael and Jeannette Swan, who named this first child, Isabella, a writer, Stephenie Meyer chose that same name to be the heroine in a book which caught on so fast, rising immediately to the top and became so famous that she followed it up with three more books, known as the Twilight Series.  

Three were made into movies, bringing even more fame to that fictional Isabella Swan.  If you were to Google that name then, that is who would come up.

Meanwhile the real Isabella Swan was growing up unaware that she bore a famous name.  But she lived a quiet life, without giving fame or the heroine of the books a thought, as those books were not of her parent’s tastes, so she had not heard of them. 

The real Isabella Swan started at two years old before she could read, to instinctively follow in her unknown ancestors footsteps. by play acting and modeling for anyone who would watch.

Her father had been an actor for a short time and her great-grandfather had come from a Stock Company family, who left their acting family’s annual shows behind when the movies took over the theaters in which they had formerly performed, and moved to Hollywood to, as they put it…

“If you can’t beat them, join them.”  Most of them were too late to become really big stars, in spite of their experience in the theater, but they worked in those parts that we all see filled by familiar faces without box office names.  I can still spot one or two in old black and white movies.Now a child in their line, at 17 years of age, Isabella Swan, had a box office name without the experience.

That situation would end if this producer had his way.  The Twilight Isabella Swan of fiction had held the spot light for at least fifteen years by now, and was, in his mind, about to become a has-been.   

True, the real Isabella was young, but suitable for the part, and if any say differently he would remind them that sixteen year old Elizabeth Taylor had jumped from childhood into adult roles, as she played a twenty one year old in love with her forty year old leading man. 

So his plan to jump his new leading lady to the top hinged on his celebrating the Grand Opening of the film by publicly presenting the, by then, eighteen year old, Isabella Swan, with the famous red stone ring, he had just purchased at an outrageous price.

Unfortunately the ring disappeared just three weeks before the Grand Opening, and thus unfortunately for his plan, making the darn thing even more famous. 

Surely that red stone ring was too hot an item to sell anyplace.  The Police search did not turn up any clues as to how it was stolen or where it might be.  It was in their opinion an inside job.

The movie opened and the new Bella Swan was acclaimed, making her mark in the acting world above that of the fictional girl.  Soon the public would begin to believe that the girl in the Saga had been named for her.  All without the benefit of the missing ring.

Sometime in the future the producer who had bought and lost the ring would remove it from his secret safe and have the ring enlarged to fit his own finger.  Just before he had reported it missing, he had held it in his hand and become enthralled with the warm happy feeling it evoked. It was then that he decided that he was not going to part with it.  A mere child of a girl could never appreciate this outstanding ring as much as he did.  For shear enjoyment he would wear it in private. 

One day he was went on an early morning excursion to a quiet picturesque beach to check out the small cove for a location site to film his next picture.  The day was perfect, the site was perfect. As he watched the waves roll gently to the shore he was tempted to slip into the water and ride in with one, just as he used to do as a kid.  There was no one else there, so he slipped off his shirt and pants and waded in wearing his shorts.  

Unfortunately he had forgotten that he was still wearing his secret red stone ring.  He gripped it with his other hand and wondered if the ring had given him that childish feeling that sent him into the ocean to splash about like the young man he no longer was.  He hadn’t had this much fun in years.  A large wave came behind him and he tried to recall how he used to time himself to kick and launch himself as it arrived for the ride to shore.  He crossed his arms in front of him to set his chin high as the wave took him on a fantastic ride all of the way to the sand.

He got up smiling and pulled his dry pants and shirt on over his wet body.  It was as he brushed his hair, what was left of it, back from his face that he realized that his precious ring was no longer on his finger.  

He looked over the sand and not finding any sign of it, knew that under the water it was useless to even try to find anything that small.  He stood ready to send a crew out to strain through the sand, but knew that even though it was here someplace, nothing he would do had a chance in a million of finding that tiny ring.  He left for home mourning his loss, but could commiserate with no one, as he had long ago reported it stolen.  All of the sympathy he received then was used up.

A HUNGRY BLACK CROW WAS PECKING THOUGH THE SAND ON A ROCK AND SEA WEED STREWN BEACH HOPING to find enough food to fill her empty stomach and give her the strength to keep searching until she had food to fill her three just hatched babies.  She could hear them even now, high in the eucalyptus tree nest crying for her to come feed them.  She was not having much luck, but she kept pecking, she was not the least bit choosey, she would be happy with sea critters that were often buried in this sand, or a worm hiding in the sea weed, she also often found potato chips, half eaten cookies, or bits of hot dog fallen from the hands of a child, rushing to get back to playing in the surf.

The weather must have been dull as she was not finding any people foods either.  With no other choice she carried on.  Then ahead she saw something shiny and thin like a worm with both ends poking into the sand.  She hurried to catch it in her beak before it escaped.  Grabbing the exposed middle she pulled and found herself with a very hard worm indeed

The shiny thing was a gold ring.  It dropped to the sand and she saw that on the front it was set with a blood red stone.  It sparkled and winked in the sun and was so beautiful that she decided to keep it.   With her toes curled, she slipped her foot into the ring and pulled with her beak until it hung safely around her leg.  

THE END…  AND PERHAPS ANOTHER BEGINNING 

WITH SPECIAL THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO’S NAME APPEARS WITHOUT PERMISSION

INCLUDING STEPHENIE MEYER OF TWILIGHT SAGA 

Gramma Bev & Poppa Bob love you each and all