"So, you're telling me that this blue rock," she held up the jewel as she spoke, "is going to light up and burn me if I don't do something with it?" It was a harsh statement, but Susanna was confused and no longer sure of what she'd thought she known just hours before.
"Yes, my dear. But I can't tell you why it happened to me, for I am unsure myself on that matter. I do know that I had the jewel for five days before it did anything. That was when I first noticed the glow, but it was another three days before the heat grew to a point that I could no longer handle the gem. Two days later, the stone was unbearable to be in the presence of, so in the dead of night I dropped it off outside that filthy little shop." Meredith explained the strange time patterns with complete faith in their accuracy. It was almost as though she were picturing it all in her mind as she spoke. As though she could remember it all with such intense exactness that it had happened fifty minutes ago rather than fifty years.
"It almost sounds like the stone was trying to warn you of something. The closer to this thing it got, the more earnest the jewel got. But what was it warning you of? And is that still the same reason I have it now? Could it be that the warning still stands because the task was never finished all those years ago?" Susanna questioned. Her mind was no longer confused; it was whirling about with theories of why the gem was needed and what powers it might have possessed. She set her long empty teacup down and looked up at Meredith.
"Why didn't you try to figure out what the stone wanted? Why did you just give up and take it back?"
Meredith followed her young friend's lead and set her cup down as well. Staring directly into Susanna's eyes, she insisted, "I did not give up. I never tried to begin with so there was nothing for me to give up on. I was at the prime of my life--newly married, soon-to-be mother of a darling child, wealthy--so why would I get involved in something that could take it all away or mess it up? I didn't care about anything or anyone but myself and my family. So when ignoring the stone didn't work I took it back.
"You though, you live alone, no man in your life, no unborn child to worry about. You could do something with this jewel. You could be the one to figure out what it wants and why it's important. Susanna, you could change life as we know it if you can solve that poem. I'm sure it has something to do with why we've been given -- YOU'VE been given -- this mysterious blue gem."
"Yes, my dear. But I can't tell you why it happened to me, for I am unsure myself on that matter. I do know that I had the jewel for five days before it did anything. That was when I first noticed the glow, but it was another three days before the heat grew to a point that I could no longer handle the gem. Two days later, the stone was unbearable to be in the presence of, so in the dead of night I dropped it off outside that filthy little shop." Meredith explained the strange time patterns with complete faith in their accuracy. It was almost as though she were picturing it all in her mind as she spoke. As though she could remember it all with such intense exactness that it had happened fifty minutes ago rather than fifty years.
"It almost sounds like the stone was trying to warn you of something. The closer to this thing it got, the more earnest the jewel got. But what was it warning you of? And is that still the same reason I have it now? Could it be that the warning still stands because the task was never finished all those years ago?" Susanna questioned. Her mind was no longer confused; it was whirling about with theories of why the gem was needed and what powers it might have possessed. She set her long empty teacup down and looked up at Meredith.
"Why didn't you try to figure out what the stone wanted? Why did you just give up and take it back?"
Meredith followed her young friend's lead and set her cup down as well. Staring directly into Susanna's eyes, she insisted, "I did not give up. I never tried to begin with so there was nothing for me to give up on. I was at the prime of my life--newly married, soon-to-be mother of a darling child, wealthy--so why would I get involved in something that could take it all away or mess it up? I didn't care about anything or anyone but myself and my family. So when ignoring the stone didn't work I took it back.
"You though, you live alone, no man in your life, no unborn child to worry about. You could do something with this jewel. You could be the one to figure out what it wants and why it's important. Susanna, you could change life as we know it if you can solve that poem. I'm sure it has something to do with why we've been given -- YOU'VE been given -- this mysterious blue gem."
