THAT BLACK RING

The narrator goes to the store with his mother, Micah picks out a ring for him.

The long ride comes to an end as the car slows to a stop. I step out, stretching as me and my mother grab our things. We headed across the street to the shop we had been planning to go to all week.

A bell rings as the door opens, incense burns on the counter but I can’t smell it. I perk up immediately as I hear a cat happily meow behind some crystal filled bins. 

Quietly, I rush over, kneeling in front of a lanky, fluffy, gray cat. My mother chats with the store clerk as I’m completely distracted by the cat. A faint, guitar sound plays in the back of my mind, clashing with the reverberating, dark, goth music of the shop.

The cat runs off startled as I jump from the whisper in my ear. It’s Micah! I smile to myself. 

“Hey.” Micah whispers. I don’t hear him with my ears, but with some other sense I can’t describe.

“Go look around, there was something cool at the counter.” He instructs. I nod, standing up and looking around. I peek out from behind the clothes rack, filled with long leather coats and black dresses. My footsteps are silent as I step around the wooden tables, filled to the brim with stones and crystals. A metal scoop stuck straight up in them. 

A massive amethyst geode glints in the light, my hand traces the purple spikes inside. I press on the point of a sharp one. Then I press harder. 

“Stop that.” Micah chastises me. I quickly pull my hand away from the amethyst. 

I feel a small compass, spinning endlessly in my head. Like my brain was a magnetic north pole. Then it suddenly stops, now pointing down to the table the geode sits on. I look down, there’s a sign that says, “DO NOT TOUCH”.

“Oh.” I blurt out to myself as I quickly walk away.

Me and Micah chat silently as we walk around the rest of the store, looking at the wall of incense and racks of tarot cards.

I freeze when my mother steps back up to the counter, the clerk scanning her items. I realize it’s almost time to leave, and I forgot to pick something out. I look around frantically, then I feel the compass spinning again. 

I stop behind the clothes rack again, holding my left hand out in front of me. I spin slowly in a circle with my eyes closed, trying to feel where the compass wants to point.

It focuses, starting to point towards the counter, I follow it faithfully, putting my hand back at my side. 

I peek out from behind my mother, out at the many racks of jewelry tucked neatly into their black velvet slots. 

I reach out my hand as if to get something. I move slowly, trying to feel where the compass wants to point next. Micah’s whisper startles me again.

“Get that one.” He whispers, guiding my hand towards a worn, silver, chunky ring. It has three metal bands, the metal forming two small swirls in the front around a black obsidian stone. 

I pick up the ring gently, trying it on. It’s too loose on my ring finger, so I try it on my pointer finger instead. I bite my cheek, confused on if it’s upside down or not, before I’m interrupted by my mother.

She glances over at me trying on the ring, “Oh that looks like Obsidian! It provides protection and shielding from negative energy.” She rattles off the properties quickly. I nod, still staring down at the ring, looking at the small scratches on the stone’s surface.

I turn it around in my hand, looking at the small tag attached. It’s $7, I pull seven ones out of my wallet, handing it to the shop clerk. 

Then we head home. The whole way I stare at the black obsidian stone, trying to see my reflection. It’s too blurry.