Flash

The Opal of Eternal Love

"My dear child!" Gertrud reached out feebly towards her favourite granddaughter. "I am glad you are here."

Lara sat carefully on the bed and took her hand. "How are you today?" she asked solicitously.

"Much better." She smiled mysteriously. "Today is the day."

"What day, Grandmother?"

"The day I am reunited with Andrei, of course."

"No!" Lara said angrily. "No! Why are you trying to get me upset? You promised that you would come to my wedding!"

"Death breaks all promises. child," Gertrud said gently. "Do not grudge me this. I am tired."

Lara began to cry. "How can you be so sure?"

Gertrud held out her free hand. "Look at the opal."

As long as Lara had known her grandmother, she had worn the opal ring. It was different from other opals -- it seemed to burn with some hidden fire and have moods of its own. Sometimes it seemed angry, sometimes sad, sometimes joyous. The colours flared and danced and waned... Lara would watch the opal for hours.

"You grandfather gave me that when we first pledged our love," her Grandmother would tell her, "and I have never had it off my finger. He told me that if he died before me, his spirit would live in the stone."

Lara would look at the dance of life in the opal and imagine that she felt her grandfather's spirit. He had died young, and she had never met him, but she felt as if she knew him.

Today the opal was glowing red in a way she had never seen before.

"What does it mean?" she asked.

Gertrud took the ring from her hand.

"It is ready to be passed on. To you."

"Why me?" she asked in amazement. "I am only the third daughter of your second daughter."

"Because the stone has chosen you. Otherwise I could not remove it."

She began to tell Lara a story she had not heard before.

"Soon after Andrei died, Tomas began to court me. He was very charming."

Lara shuddered. "He does not looks so charming now. He is covered with sores. And he beats his wife."

Gertrud nodded. "The stone saw his heart. It became dark and cloudy. I ignored it and persisted. When Tomas asked me to marry him, I said yes."

"Then the ring tightened on my finger and burned, more and more each day. I tried everything to get it off. I even went to the wise woman. Nothing helped. Finally I confessed to Tomas. 'Andrei is jealous,' I said."

She paused.

"What happened?"

"Tomas drew his knife and tried to cut off my finger."

"Dear God!" Lara crossed herself.

"He said I was his and no ghost could stand between us. He held me and started to cut. But bone is tough -- and my father heard me screaming before he had a chance to finish."

"So that is where that scar came from," Lara said, stroking it.

"I broke the engagement. No other man dared court me after that."

"Are you sorry?"

"I don't know. Perhaps Andrei had my best interests at heart."

She held out the ring. "The stone is yours now. But I wanted you to know the full story before you put it on. Some of my spirit has already entered the stone and united with Andrei's. We will watch over you, but you will never be completely free. You will not be able to slip the ring off until the time comes to pass it on."

Lara held the ring in the air. "This is the stone of eternal love," she said. "Each one who wears it will leave something of herself in it, and so our family will be united in this world and the next."

Gertrud smiled. "That is why you are chosen. You understand. But it is yours to accept or refuse the responsibility. Think carefully. Perhaps the stone will not like your young man..."

Lara closed her hand over the ring. It was warm, and seemed to be singing to her. "I have loved this stone since I was a babe, not knowing why," she said. "I don't think my life will be complete without it."

Gertrud died peacefully in the night. At the funeral, many people noticed how beautiful the ring looked on Lara's finger.  Her older sisters were outraged.  They lectured and browbeat Lara, but she refused to give up her inheritance.  When they resorted to force, the ring shocked them with a painful jolt of power.  The situation deteriorated so much that Lara packed her bags and went to live with her aunt, who was much more understanding.  

 The opal was more enchanting than ever on Lara's wedding day, reflecting its dancing fire in the eyes of the bride and groom.  Her grandmother had kept her promise to be at the wedding.