The Emerald

The Emerald

A long time ago in the 1920's, there was a boy named Mark. Mark loved to build toy trucks and airplanes on his farm. He and his dad lived on a small Iowa town in the middle of nowhere. Mark loved to watch the sky and be mesmerized by its clear, picturesque, nature. Mark also loved his dog, Collie, a beagle, which Mark had ever since he was seven years old. Mark’s dog was very loyal to Mark and never bit Mark. Collie was always obedient. Mark’s father, Alexander, or Al as Mark called him, was a farmer who farmed corn on his sprawling farm. Mark’s father was very tall and strong and knew the ins and outs of farming as he had been doing this for many years. Al was exceptionally understanding so he rarely shouted at his son and mostly listened to what he said. Al, however, didn’t make much money. Farming, although necessary for food and great for improving physical health, didn’t provide Al and Mark with the money they needed all the time. It was sad that Al and Mark didn’t always end up with enough money to pay the bills or have enough to eat. They lived paycheck to paycheck. 

One day, Mark decided to take a walk outside his farm. It was a blistering, August evening and Mark was strolling down a road when all of a sudden he saw something glittering in the ground. He stopped to look at it and uncovered it from the ground and saw it was some sort of shiny rock. Mark decided to inspect the rock and see what it really was. He took the rock to the farm where his dad was sitting on a chair when Al said, “Looks like a gemstone covered in dirt to me”. Mark was stunned that he was able to have found the gemstone while just taking a walk on an ordinary day and was amazed at how beautiful it was once he wiped the dirt off it. The gemstone was light green with bits of red scattered throughout. Mark was delighted that it may be valuable beyond measure. Mark went to bed and placed the stone on his desk in his room and slept on his bed. 

When Mark woke up the next day, he stretched as the sunbeams poured in through the window into his room and illuminated his bed and desk. He grabbed the gemstone from his desk and decided to go quickly to the center of town where there was an appraiser. He ran to the center of town and went to the appraisal store and saw an old woman who was around forty years of age. The woman said, “Are you here to waste my time or is there something I can do for you? Mark replied, “I think I may have some sort of gemstone”. The woman answered, “Bring it to me, then”. Mark decided to bring the stone to her when she gasped and exclaimed, “This is one of the largest emeralds I’ve ever seen in my business!” Her eyes were wide open and looked stunned at how the stone could have been so valuable and large at the same time. She said, “I will pay you a thousand dollars.” Mark replied, “Deal!” He left the store with the money in hand and was excited to show his father what he had.

He went home and saw his dad and simply showed the money to his dad. His dad stood up almost immediately and was proud of his son. “I knew it would be valuable!”, his dad remarked. Mark and Al never had to worry about money ever again. They were set, for life, so it seemed. But why was the gem in the road in the first place?