A walk down memory lane
1536 Words
On a beautiful Sunday afternoon with the warm Summer breeze blowing in and out of the hospital rooms. I found out that Becky's best friend,Amanda,was my great great grandmother.
I must say that God really did a good looking out. Now I can learn more about my heritage. A lesson my parents never thought it wise to indulge me in. But first, I had to come up with a good lie to get Amanda to believe that I didn't steal the necklace. And that was a brain wracking problem.
"So,am still waiting for an answer?"Amanda broke me out of my thoughts. "Becks seriously say something. Your silence is making me think that you stole this necklace from my mother"
"Is your mother's necklace missing?" I asked
She looked puzzled and finally said with insincerity in her voice. "No, I don't know. Just tell me if you stole it?"
"How could I have stolen it? Why not call your mother and ask her if she still has her necklace. And if she says that she does,you will finally believe me when I tell you that I didn't steal it" I suggested
"Okay,fine. Let me call her" and then she took out her phone to make the call.
She dialled her mother's number and left it on speaker. Her mom picked on the third ring.
"Hey sugar plum" the voice that sounded just like my mother's own came blaring from the phone.
Amanda signed. "Mom,stop calling me that. It can be embrassing"
"Embrassing? it's a phone call sweetie,it's just between me and you"
"But still mom..."
"Okay. How is Becky? Is she there? Put her on the phone,let me talk to her."
Amanda looked at me,I believe she just didn't want her mother to talk to me because she feared I might give her some "sign language" to lie to her. Either that or she just wanted to get to the bottom of this as soon as possible and didn't need any distraction. "Mom,she is in the bathroom right now. Mom,I need to ask you something"
"Okay,what is it darling?"
"Are you wearing your necklace right now?"
"Well,that's a weird question to be asking. Why are you suddenly interested in the necklace?"
"Mom am not interested in it,I just want to know if it's with you right now"
"Yes darling. I am wearing it right now"
Amanda looked at me with disbelief and shock in her eyes and I could tell why. Her mother's next words did not help the situation at all.
"You know darling,now that you've asked. This necklace is one of a kind. Your grandmother gave it to me on a Wednesday as she laid on the hospital bed saying her last words. It has been passed down to the women in our generation for ages. Do you want to hear the story of how it came about?"
Amanda nodded and when she realized that her mother couldn't see her, with a tiny voice she replied "yes, please" and I sat down to listen to the story on my family's necklace.
"Okay,so it started from your ancestor Sandra Bill. She was a beautiful woman with lot of strength and potential. She always had an eye for the finer things of life and when Will Harry mouted into town that afternoon with his horse,she knew she had to have him."
"So,she bought a nice dress and wore it to an evening dinner that she knew Mr. Harry will be. She gracefully entered into a conversation with him and they talked all night long. They began their journey of love from that day and it was blissful."
"Few weeks later,Will took her to a stream and proposed to her with a necklace. It was unlikely but when he told her that he had cut the Crescent Moon himself and took a diamond of 6 karats and placed it in the middle of the heart shape,she was a goner. She gladly accepted the necklace and agreed to marry him."
"They didn't get to be married because two days later,a war started. The night before the war,Will had taken the necklace, without Sandra's knowledge, to a witch and had her place a protective spell on the necklace. So that Sandra will be safe throughout the war."
"It was a sweet gesture and the next morning,the necklace was back on Sandra's neck and she noticed that the sparkling crystal clear diamond had turned to a crimson red diamond. She wondered why and the letter besides her gave her the answer."
"The letter read, "my lovely Sandra,I am sorry that I have to leave you at such a crucial time but I am doing this for you and our unborn baby. Yes,my love,I know that you are with child and I wish more than anything that I could be there to watch it grow. I hope it's a girl,so that it will have a skin as clear as yours,a voice as sweet as yours,a mind as pure as yours,a character as elegant as yours,a heart as golden as yours and love as deeply as you do. A war is coming and I
have been recruited to fight for our country,to fight for your safety and so I have left to go join the army defend our country. I love you with everything in me and I will always be with you. Wear the necklace at all times. It will protect you,it will keep you safe and please pass it down to our generation and tell them of our story because it truly is a story to be told."
"After Sandra finished reading the letter,she ran out to look for her beloved but he was far gone. She was broken but she had to be strong for her child. Later that afternoon,the war started. Many died but Sandra managed to survive even though a bomb was denoted in the same house she was inside"
"After the war,she waited for her beloved to come back to her and on the day she gave birth to her daughter,she got the sad news that he died fighting for his country. When she was about to die,she passed the necklace down to her daughter and the necklace has been passed down from generation to generation since then"
Amanda's mother finally ended her story and I finally understood why mom could never give me the necklace when she was alive. It was only to be passed down when you are about to die. It still didn't explain why she didn't tell me this story.
And I had a question,if the necklace was meant to protect us,why then did my mother died and why did I also die while wearing the necklace still? I didn't get an answer because Amanda spoke up.
"Thank you Mom. I'll talk to you later." She ended the call and looked at me. "Well,as you heard this necklace is one of a kind so tell me how you got it?"
Shit,I still have to answer that question. "I got it at a junk store"
"A what?"
"It's actually a very funny story. So am walking down the street on my way to get a cheese burger and this guy pulls me into this junk store. He tells me that the necklace will look good on me and he places it on my neck and leaves"
"And you wore it ever since?"
"Well,you have to admit that it is very beautiful. I couldn't bring myself to take it off."
She walked close to me till her face was so close to mind,I could feel her breath on my face. "Is that the truth?"
I didnt blink,I didnt change the pace of my breathing and I gave her a honest lie. "Yes"
Mom walked in and I was grateful for the release of the tension in the air.
"What's going on here?" mom asked. She must have noticed the way Amanda kept staring at me.
"Nothing ma. I was just leaving"
"Well,I hope it's not because of me?"
Amanda smiled and replied "no,ma. My mom just wants me to run an errand for her. I will see you later Becks. Byeee" and she was gone.
"Is she alright?" mom asked
"I don't know. Am going to the bathroom now."
In the bathroom,I turned on the water and splashed some on my face. I looked at myself in the mirror with the necklace hanging from my neck and I knew I had to know more about my ancestors.
That night,I did not sleep. I stayed up researching about The Bills. I found out that the necklace has actually helped a lot of my ancestors survive terrible conditions.
One of them survived an earthquake because she was wearing the necklace.
One was able to survive a tornado. Amazing things happened because of the necklace but the was a down side to it. The witch only asked for one thing from Mr. Will Harry and that is that our linkage will only have one female child and no boy and of course Mr. Harry accepted.
But that wasn't my problem. I just hoped that this necklace will help me survive whatever calamity is going to befall this city.
- Writer
