Luminous Nights

VI. Family Matters Pt. 2

Dad and I finished cleaning up the kitchen for the night. Afterwards, I grabbed the small, red box off the table and decided to take it to my room and open it. On my way there, I was interrupted. "What's that you have?" a familiar voice asked. I almost jumped out of my skin and turned around to see Emily, my younger sister standing there. She looked even older than the last time I saw her. You'd think that she's older than me, yet she's only sixteen. Her long, copper hair looked perfect as usual, her makeup nicely done, making her green eyes stand out. She also wore a stylish crop top with jeans which fit her thin figure perfectly. She was obviously blessed with the better genes than me.

"Jesus, Emily you scared the crap out of me." She rolled her eyes at me. "That sounds like a 'you' problem. But seriously, what's that you have?" She impatiently asked. "Why do you want to know so bad? Also, I haven't seen you in over three months and this is the first reaction I get? C'mon, do I not even deserve a 'Hey Violet, how's it going? Jeez." I responded and rolled my eyes back at her. Emily and I have always had a bit of a rocky relationship. We've always been like cats and dogs, or oil and water. I've always been more easy-going, and she's always been the life of the party.

Emily huffed and put one hand on her hip impatiently. "Ugh fine. Hi, how are you, Violet? Now, what's in the box?" God why does she have to be so pushy all the time? "I don't know yet, because I haven't opened it yet. Also, this is specifically for me to open. Alone. Dad's orders." Emily didn't like my response, and raised an eyebrow at me. "Ugh, are you serious? I'm asking Dad about this!" Emily stomped away yelling for Dad. Yup, she's definitely sixteen.

I made it to my room and sat down on the bed with the box. I still find it weird how Dad told me to open it on my own. "Here goes nothing." I said aloud as I slowly started to lift the lid. I don't know why, but I felt nervous to open it. I guess since this will be the first thing I've received from Mom since she's passed away, so many years ago. There were some crumpled newspapers lying inside, so I began removing them. Underneath was a tiny, black velvet bag. I picked it up and it had a bit of weight to it in my hand. I tilted the bag, and a golden ring came tumbling out into the palm of my hand. It seemed to be in pristine condition and had an intricate design of swirling patterns, with strange markings engraved into it. In the center, there was a small, amber colored stone. What a beautiful ring. Was this her wedding ring? No, it can't be; Dad has her wedding ring already. I haven't seen a ring designed like this before though. I held it up to get a better look at it. As I was studying the ring, Emily came barging into my room, nearly making me drop it.

Emily stared directly at the ring I was holding. "Aha! I knew it! I just knew it was going to be jewelry!" Emily swooped down towards me and plucked the ring right out of hand. "Hey, give that back!" I yelled, but she was completely ignoring me whilst attempting to put the ring on herself. "I can't believe Mom would gift you expensive jewelry. Ugh, such a waste on a slob such as yourself. You don't even deserve anything like this, since you put no time or effort into your appearance." she snarked at me. "Well at least I don't take almost three hours to get ready just to go buy some groceries. Who're you trying to impress there? The bags of onions?" I barked right back at her. She glared at me and tossed the ring onto my bed. "Well, whatever. The ring's not that pretty anyways. I'm sure Mom left me an even prettier one that I'll get on my twenty-first birthday too." Emily strutted out of my room, closing the door behind her on the way out. God, how has Dad not lost his sanity having to deal with her? I dug the ring out of the tangle of blankets that was on my bed. I began examining the ring once again, and attempted to put it on. It slid right onto my left pointer finger, and luckily it fit perfect. I don't care what Emily says, I think this ring looks beautiful. Hopefully she'll mature here soon, and start realizing that there's more to life than your appearance.

I stood up and started to clean up the crumpled newspapers, from the box, that were scattered all over my bed now. As I was picking through them, a folded sheet of notebook paper peaked out from behind one of the scraps of newspaper. Huh, what's this? I thought while starting to unfold the random paper I had found.

A shiver ran through me, as I recognized the handwriting. It was Mom's, that's for certain. I guess the ring was only the first part of the gift from her. It's a good thing I didn't throw this away. I sat back down on the bed, and began to read the letter Mom left me.

"Dear Violet,

If you're reading this then you'll be a grown woman by this time. Wow, time sure does fly! At least, I'm hoping you're actually twenty-one and Dad didn't slip this to you sooner than planned, otherwise there would be a bit of confusion for a while. Anyways, I have some words of wisdom, or I guess more like advice for you to listen to. I'm writing them down in this letter in case, for some reason, I never get to tell you in person. As I'm writing this, you're currently falling asleep in your crib, to the sound of raindrops pattering on the metal roof of our home. It's your favorite sound that puts you to sleep instantly. Trust me, I love rainy days for this exact reason. Maybe you'll have a little one of your own by the time you read this, or if not that's completely okay too! You do what's best for you and always choose to follow your heart; it's what will make you the happiest. All I want for you is to be happy, healthy, and safe. Now then, I think it's time I get to the main point of this letter. You may not understand the words I'm about to write, but you will in due time.

Don't trust the night, because the dark ones dwell within it. Feel your own light within, and let its' warmth protect you.

I know, I know, it sounds like complete jargon, but just bear with me. I can't... or more so I don't want to tell you what's out there. All I'm trying to say is to be careful, Violet. Follow your gut instinct and use that to your advantage. Also, the ring I'm gifting you, I ask that you try to wear it as much as possible; it will bring me comfort to know that you're wearing it. I also just want to apologize for how crazy I sound in this letter; but just trust my words, Violet.

I love you to the moon and stars, and I'll always be with you in your heart.

Love, Mom"