Zane
isn't sure what it is, but it seems to fit his pointer finger perfectly. He
knows it is a ring, that much is obvious, but he isn't sure what kind of ring. After all, it had come out
of a box of healthy cereal, which had never had prizes before. It is heavy too,
like it is made of metal, but metal didn't come out of cereal boxes, did it? He
hops down from the chair at the dining room table and trundles towards his
room, half-tripping over a red fire engine. Raising his hand up, he turns the
doorknob and enters his room. Running to the bookshelf, he pulls out a box
labeled “science kit” and tears it apart, strewing it around the room. Finding
what he wanted he raises the magnifying glass to his eye and looks through it
at the ring.
It
looks like the ring his dad wore on his left hand, grooved slightly down the
middle and growing heavier by the second. Zane takes it off, setting it on the
ground and looking at it again. It is dark in color, almost like his panda’s black
fur, but it is shiny too. He likes the way it looks, and the way it looks on
his finger. He thinks about putting it somewhere safe, but he wants to wear it
again. So he puts it on, and waves his hand around, examining the ring from up
high and down low. As he swings his hand upwards though, his whole body seems
to lift and he finds himself floating toward the ceiling. He squeaks a little
and then covers his mouth with his hand, feeling the ring’s cold surface on his
face.
He
stops moving, hovering and he looks at the ring, and then points down, and he
floats down toward the ground. With a little giggle, he points up again and the
ring takes him upwards, he points left, and left he goes, he points right and
he zooms across the room. The faster he swings his arm, the faster he switches
directions. Laughing out loud he points back to the ground and lands back on
the floor.
“This
ring is cool!” Zane says, and
trundles back out his door toward the kitchen, only to see a little man,
dressed all in blue, sitting on his table.
“You
are right.” The man says, a slight smile on his face. “It is cool.” Zane backs
up slowly, and then, remembering the ring, points quickly back at his room only
to find the little man in front of him again, his face only a few inches higher
than his own.
“I’d
like my ring back.” He says and Zane can feel himself shaking inside.
“I
found it.” He says, hearing the shake in his voice. He clutches his fingers
tightly around the ring, and the little man reaches down, pulling his fingers
out of the fist and slipping the ring off of Zane’s finger and onto his own.
“Just
because you found it doesn't mean it belongs to you.” The man says, growing
taller, and soon he is taller than Zane’s dad. “Now, run off and play.” And the
man whips his finger towards the window and slips out. Zane rushes to the
window and watches the strange man as he soars upwards. He feels his finger where
the ring had just been, and he closes his eyes tightly, his little hands
balling up into fists.
Turning,
Zane returns to the table, and opens the box of cereal again, pouring it out
onto the table. Maybe next time he found a ring, there wouldn't be a little man
to take it from him.
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