Write Yourself Alive

Day 10- The Ruby Ring

Day 10: Start story with "She touched the little box in her pocket and smiled..."

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             She touched the little box in her pocket and smiled. The box contained her great-grandmothers ring. She was told all her life, that she would get the ring for her eighteenth birthday. Her great-grandmother had received it for her 16th birthday, which made the ring 63 years old. The girl had been lusting after this ring for years, because it was her birthstone, and she had been very close with her great-grandmother.

 Her grandmother passed away when she was young, and it affected her deeply. Her great-grandmother was her role model. She was the most amazing woman. She lived in a town house thirty minutes away from the young girl, and the young girl loved going over to her house. It was always a new adventure. Walking over the bridge outside and feeding the ducks, was like a scene from Mary Popins. Sometimes the swans would even walk right to the back door, and the girls would get to feed them.

 The yellow bathroom in the master bedroom, with the double sinks was something the young girl idolized. It had small shell soaps and a fluffy rug on the floor. The walkway to the yellow bathroom was two closets with the doors being mirrors. The girl and her sister would pretend to be dancers in front of those mirrors. You could see thousands of them standing in a line.

Then, they would both run over to the exercise bike, which they later learned was called an elliptical, and each girl would stand on one-foot pedal. Then they would use the handles to move themselves.  They were always scolded at because the exercise bike was dangerous, and they could get hurt.

So, they would transfer their attention to the dresser. Which was covered in makeup and perfumes, a small jewelry box, which held the gold ring with the rubies, and a silver handheld mirror and silver brush set. As young girls, they were rambunctious, and they would get bored of the girly stuff fast, so they became detectives. They would explore the trunk at the end of the bed and the drawers of the end tables. They inspected every crack and crevice, until, again they got bored, and they would then begin to jump on the full size bed. Unfortunately, this was also a dangerous activity, so again their great-grandma would come in and scold them. She never yelled though.

After they were found jumping on the bed, the master bedroom was deemed to dangerous, so they were ushered into the office. The office was another amazing adventure. The glass desk was huge! The two girls loved to play with the calculator, with the receipts. They would pretend to be office workers or secret agents. The second best part of the office was the giant keyboard. They would bang on the keys for hours, until their small tummies started to grumble.

That always meant stumbling into the kitchen and begging for a snack. The kitchen always smelled like fried onions and potatoes, because of the latkes that were frying. The girls would tug on their great grandmas colorful apron, and she would give them either a matzo ball or black olives, which were so fun to put on their fingers and play with, or even a small bowl of their great-grandmothers strawberry banana jell-o. Of course the treats were always given.  Then all the woman in the kitchen would shuffle around to make room for the kids to sit on the floor and eat. Then just a little while later they would have an amazing meal filled with laughter.

            Going home was the worst part, because she always had to say goodbye. Her great-grandma would lean down and kiss her on the cheek. Her grandmas Chanel No5 perfume would fill her senses, and strawberry blonde would brush against her cheek. A final reminder that she was still there.

The day the girl was given the robin egg blue ring box, she began to cry. It was faded, and the hinges were rusted, but to her it was beautiful. She opened it and inside was the ring. From that day forward the ring was her most prized possessions. She never let it out of her sight. Every time she looked at the ring she had the reminder again, that her great-grandma is still there, with her.