When I go back home after eating a sandwich on my way, I feel the weight of the morning heavy on my shoulders.
Not only I can't even look at Tina anymore, Claire and even Miss Jimenez have it out for me. They really want to make my existence impossible, don't they? Curse my rotten luck!
And for what, for giving them a look or two? It's such a pain.
"I'm home," I say to an empty house.
Cleaning up the house is never fun, but at least it makes me feel a little better.
And as I clean up the restroom I find a small package on the table.
"Uh? What's this… ah!" Yes, Big Sis told me I had received a present of some kind from Grandpa.
Which is quite weird to be honest. I haven't seen the old guy in quite a while. He's a cool old man, always on a trip.
I remember him as a tall man with a short grey beard and a weird light in his eyes. I always thought it came from his experiences around the world, but I would soon find out even my craziest estimates would be conservative.
I rip off the envelope and find two packages inside. The first is a penned letter inside a smaller plastic envelope, and the second one is…
"Why would he send me something like that? I'm not a girl."
I look at Grandpa's gift. It's a smooth ring of black metal (likely painted black, I suppose), with a single gem to top it. It has a weird shape, it looks like a five-lobed flower, like softer pentagram. Weird, but it is quite beautiful to be fair. Is it a diamond?
Did the old coot send me an actual diamond? This stuff is almost as big as my fingernail!
But no… it does not shine like a diamond. Its light seems a bit too cold and… grey? The usual rainbow sparkles you'd expect from a diamond are faint and the light itself seems to get sucked inside rather than be refracted.
It's likely some kind of glass or synthetic crystal. The old cheapskate.
Still, I want to see if it fits. I put it on my ring finger and it does feel a tad uncomfortable, a little too large for my hand perhaps. It does look cool, that much I have to admit.
"And let's see what he had to say…"
I pull put the letter from the envelope. Yes, it's Grandpa's writing, so angled and sharp. But clear enough.
Dear nephew, it reads and I imagine him penning it down. Seriously, who writes a damn letter these days? Still, the fact he took his time to do so is… sweet. At least someone who cares about me. Soon it will be your eighteenth birthday. Or rather… that would be what I would like to say, but I kind of forgot how old you were and last year I sent you the wrong kind of present.
"You old coot," I chuckle. Still, those Thai hats were pretty cool.
So, please take this as something I would have wanted to give you personally, but I could not, for reasons you might one day understand by yourself.
This is the Ring of the Morning Star.
This is a ring with some really special properties. Think of it like a good luck amulet. As long as you will wear it, good things will come to you. You may even find that people around you tend to treat you with more respect.
This effect will take its time to root itself in reality, but it should become permanent after a few days of usage. You can remove the ring during this time, but only once. If you do so once again, all the effects will forever disappear and the ring will lose all of its properties.
It has been in our family for the longest time. I wanted to gift it to my son, but I only ever had daughters, and as you may find out soon, this kind of ring works better on a boy like you.
Please remember to use it wisely. The lucky ring will protect you, but you will always have to be responsible in its use.
With much love, Grandpa.
"What a load of crap," I mumble, looking at the ring again. This has been in our family for generations? Then how come I have never heard of it before? It does not make any sense!
Besides, it does look pretty enough, and it does fit a lot better.
"Wha…" I try to shift it on my finger and find out that it fits me perfectly now. Not too small and not too large. Maybe I made a mistake at first, or maybe…
Nah, it cannot be. Magic rings are the stuff of games and I surely don't feel twenty percent more fire resistant! Or any of that crap.
I reach for it to take it off.
I freeze.
Grandpa's voice rattles in my head.
You can take it off, but only once.
Now, I don't really believe in that kind of thing. Manifestation, positive mind, focus, meditation and all that is a load of crap if you ask me, and something that's used only to part a fool with his money.
But…
I suppose trying it out doesn't cost anything, does it?
Besides, it's a pretty nice ring.
"The Ring of Morning Star…" I chuckle. Well, it does look a bit like a five-pointed star, doesn't it? Maybe I will get used to it.