The Ring

My mother came to visit with my youngest sister, Shoshanna, and I spent the week entertaining them and enjoying the touristy things in life. As I always do, I took them to the Arab shuk. Actually, my mother sat it out and I took Shoshanna and my brother, Chanoch, who is spending the year in Israel.

While my sister argued with a shopkeeper about the price of numerous items that she was trying to purchase, I went through his merchandise. Knives, swords, daggers, they are all very interesting but something else caught my eye; a ring.

Something about it called out to me, I cannot really describe what but I felt the sudden urge to take it. It seemed like a worthless trinket and could not imagine it costing much, but I did not even ask the price I immediately put it on.  A sudden feeling of completeness overwhelmed me as the ring slid down my finger perfectly.



Shoshanna was finishing up and I shook the store owner's hand as we turned to leave. His grip tightened as he slowly turned my hand over.  "My ring!!!" he yelled as I simultaneously whispered "my precious." We stared at each other, for what seemed like an eternity. Almost like a whip I snapped into action. "Run!!" I yelled, and we began to run through the marketplace.

As we ran I looked back and saw a swarm of people running after us. "This way!" I yelled as we turned the corner. Chanoch tripped and fell. "Chanoch!!" I yelled as I turned to get him. Amazingly he dashed into the nearest store and exited brandishing a large Arabian cutlass.

"He's got a sword!!" yelled one of the man and they stopped their chase abruptly. They stared frightened for a moment before the leader was handed a sword of his own. It was amazing to watch the fight as it ensued. Chanoch held his own as the shopkeeper lunged at him. For a moment the clang of steel was all that could be heard throughout the shuk. I watched as the other people stepped forward, each brandishing a sword of their own.

In desperation I grabbed a knife from the nearby shop and flipped it open. "Take that!" I yelled and laughed evilly as I threw the knife. It slammed into the main attacker's forehead...handle first. He looked at me confused. Chanoch seized his opportunity, and ran, "Run!" he yelled as he flew past us. We obliged and Shoshanna began to laugh. "I love this part" she screamed in delight.

Expertly navigating the maze of streets that is the Old City in Jerusalem we managed to lose our pursuers. We slowed as we neared the car, and I looked proudly at the ring I had liberated from the Arab shuk. "You know what?" I said as I stared at my hand. "This thing is really ugly," and I tossed it in the trash.