Aquamarine

It's just a rock.

It was the best jewel I had from my collection. What I liked most about it was that, if you held it up to the sky on a clear day, you couldn't tell the two apart. It looked and felt as though you were holding a shard of ice between your thumb and fore-finger, without any of the chilling pain ebbing away to icy numbness.

If I went to clean my collection, I'd focus on the aquamarine last, holding it upwards on a clear day. My flatmate Zack would see me obsessing over the last stone sometimes and would chide me for it.

“They're just rocks, why do you waste so much time on them?” He'd say, having no concern for how much they meant to me. He couldn't understand, it was easy for him to get what he needed from the world around him. He only had to play basketball with his friends, round the night out with a beer and that was all he needed. I always felt lost when trying to do 'normal people things' as he'd put it, but something about studying the aquamarine helped me feel at peace. Admiring it helped me feel connected to the universe around me in a way that nothing else could match. Zack was rude and arrogant, he couldn't understand.

So naturally, I was devastated when the stone went missing. Sure, I could have just bought another one. Truth be told, it wasn't as though that particular aquamarine had any sentimental value, it wasn't a gift from any of my friends, or my parents, but I'd just had it for a long time. It was my favourite in the collection, you understand.

I damn near turned the place upside-down looking for it. It had been no larger than a single digit of my little finger, a little piece of the sky that had fallen and become lost somewhere on the earth. Zack and I had a row when he came back from being out in the sun all day, he'd gotten sunburned and just wanted to relax only to find that everything was out of order. Things got heated and I somehow implied that he'd taken it.

“Why would I want any part of your weird collection?! I'm sorry you lost it but you need to get your priorities right for God's sake!” He shouted, slamming his bedroom door behind him.

I set to returning the flat to normal. When I was done, I sat on the edge of the bed feeling sorry for myself.

We didn't talk much the next day. Being unable to find the stone, I set about trying to buy a new one. It was easy to find but for some reason having a new piece just wasn't the same. After all, that was the same aquamarine I'd used to calm myself down since I was 8 years old, it had made clear days seem all the more beautiful. I'd memorised its exact shape, its colour almost seemed unique. I considered that I might have taken it out with me somewhere in the city, where it would now be lost forever.

That night, I went out to the balcony just as the sun was setting. Zack had gone out in the morning but had sat at home watching tv most of the day.

“Hey Ben...” he said.

“Zack, I'm sorry about the other day. I know you wouldn't take any of my stones, it's just that one was important to me and I over-reacted.”

“I know man, don't worry. I'm sorry I insulted your collection.” he smiled in a way that was infectious, irresistible. “Here...” he rummaged through his left pocket and pulled something out, a deep purple stone.

“For you. I think this is the right one, right?” he held the amethyst between his fingers, holding it out to me. I took it.

“Um...close enough.” I smiled. “Thank-you.” I said, holding it up to the sky, matching it to the purple at the edge of the sunset, the birth of the night sky. I held it up to him before putting it away, thinking of the nice gesture of which the stone would remind me in future. He was a good friend, when he wanted to be.

Zack looked at me quizzically, before shrugging and looking back to the TV, popping a beer. He didn't get what the fuss was about, but I was happy and that was good enough for him.