THE RING

There once was a very handsome and successful man. Everyone was impressed with him and everything he did. The man was also quite proud of his accomplishments and seemed very happy with the way his life turned out. Long before the man became successsful, he bought himself a beautiful ring. It was 24 karat gold with a beautiful, small diamond setting. He was very proud of his ring and refused to take it off. It symbolized to him all his hard work, dedication and everything he achieved. He had been wearing the ring for many years and because she was of the purest gold, she molded herself to him as time went on. If his fingers grew thin, she grew oblong to fit; if his fingers grew fat she grew wider, everytime life bumped the man, the ring would get nicked. She was still as beautiful as always but the man's life had shown its wear on her. The man did not seem to care about the nicks in the gold, he continued to polish the diamond and wear her with pride every single day. He would get many, many compliments on his ring because of it's unique and beautiful setting. Even with the nicks in her finish, the ring never lost her beauty.

Then one day, the man was walking along minding his own business. He was deep in thought so he was looking down when something shiny caught his eye. He bent down to pick up another ring which had been left in his path. He liked the ring, as it was also beautiful. It had a bigger diamond and the gold seemed to be a little more shiny than the ring which had been his companion for a very long time. He was attached to the first ring however, so he did not take her off. Instead, he simply put the new ring inside his pocket. The ring in his pocket seemed to have a life all it's own. It seemed to be calling to him and every day he would take out that ring and admire her. He began to wonder how it would feel to wear the ring he found, but because of his attachment to his familiar ring he couldn't bring himself to put her on. Instead, everyday he continued to take her out and watch her shine. Eventually, he became so infatuated with the new ring that he did the one thing that he once thought was unthinkable; he took off the first ring and put on the ring he had found. He liked the way the new ring felt. Her stone was beautiful and large and he couldn't see any nicks in her metal. He began to wonder why he was so attached to the other ring. Suddenly, the other ring looked worn out and was not as appealing as before. He thought that now he had found true happiness as he wore the new ring with her big stone and no nicks in her metal. He was very proud that he was able to take off the other ring who he had been through so much with him and replace her with the new brighter and shinier version.

The old ring was tossed into a jewel case with many other diamonds and gemstones. At first, she was so used to being on the man's finger that she didn't even realize that she had been taken off. Then one day she realized that she no longer had to mold herself to fit him and she started weeping because she knew then that he had replaced her with another ring. The other jewels in the box heard her crying and came to comfort her. Immediately they were amazed at her beauty and the uniqueness of her setting. Because of the many nicks in her finish, they could tell she was of the finest metal and they were all drawn to her. Sometimes they made her laugh, sometimes it was merely a smile but when they cried with her, the tears would wear at the finish of her metal and would polish her diamond. Once again the ring began to change her shape but this time it was not to conform to the man, but to become the shape she wanted. The tears eventually wore out all the nicks from many years of life with the man. They even began to wear out the place where he had his initials engraved to show that the ring belonged to him.

The man continued with his life but the new ring became an irritant. She was not of the finest metal and could not mold herself to fit his life. Instead she was often times uncomfortable and sometimes seemed to be digging into his skin. He was becoming increasingly dissatisfied with the new ring. One day, he had an important engagement to attend and opened the jewel box to get cuff links. The light caught the former ring and cast light and color all across his room. He smiled as he remembered how beautiful that ring was and all the fond memories he had of wearing her. He picked her up and wondered why he ever took her off in the first place. He decided he would try and wear her to the engagement but the other ring was stuck on his finger and there was not enough time to remove her. Once again, the man found himself wearing one ring and wondering about another. He examined the ring on his finger and was disappointed, there were cracks and scratches on her stone because she was not a real diamond. Where her gold had worn thin, he could see the tarnished metal and realized she was merely gold-plated. He was sad because he realized he had been fooled. The new ring was nothing more than a cheap imitation.

After many struggles, he was finally able to remove the found ring and thought he could be happy if he could just wear the first ring again; But when he went to try her on, she no longer fit. Sadly, he knew he made a mistake and began to weep as he realized the first ring would not fit him and could never again mold herself to fit his life.