The Bracelet

The dew-drenched grass was cold under her bare feet despite the warm humid air. The bracelet felt heavy in her slick palms. 

How many times would she do this? How many times would she destroy it, only for it to return on her nightstand the following morning? Bile roiled in her stomach thinking about the unknown force behind this mystery. She was fighting against something she couldn’t see or understand. 

She examined the bracelet in her hand. There was nothing noteworthy about the cheap costume jewelry. It’s just some translucent plastic beads, in varying shades of pink, strung on an elastic band. 

She closed her fingers around the accessory. She couldn’t let the fear take over, she had too many precious things to protect. Her daughter, Ally. Her bright beautiful girl, just barely over five years old. Whatever was behind this, she had to make sure her daughter was safe from it. 

In the middle of the clearing she dug her hands into the damp ground, breaking apart the roots of the grass and ripping up chunks of soil. When she had opened her eyes that morning she was horrified to find the bracelet on her pillow in front of her face, refracting the early morning light coming in through the windows. She scrambled out of bed, not bothering to change out of her silken lavender nightgown. Entering the living room she saw Ally on the couch brushing her dolls ratted hair and watching cartoons with her dad. Without saying anything she quietly grabbed her keys and headed for the garage. Her daughter has always been very sensitive to other peoples’ moods. She knew if she spoke or made eye contact, Ally would feel the fear in her and start panicking. 

Now here, in the middle of the woods she would bury this stupid piece of plastic and be done with it. Dumping it into the hole she had dug she thought of spitting on it before toppling the earth over it. Better not, she thought to herself. No reason to make  this thing any angrier. 

Having covered the bracelet she stood over the spot of disturbed soil. Her hands, feet, and knees now covered in dirt and grass. She would have some explaining to do when she got back home, it would take an hour to get all of the debris out from under her nails. 

On the trek back to her car, she laughed to herself bitterly. A bracelet, probably no more than fifty cents, was putting her through this. How could such a meaningless object put her into a state like this? Three weeks ago was when she had found it for the first time. On the floor by her bed, she slipped on it when she got up that morning. Irritated, she scooped it up and tossed it into the trashcan under the desk in her room. Two days later it was on her nightstand, not thinking twice about it she had thrown it into the kitchen trash. It always came back though, she had tossed it into the yard, stomped on it on her patio, and even gone as far as to back over it with her husband’s SUV when she found it for the fifth time. She shook her head, trying to chase away the memories. This was the farthest she had ever taken it. She made herself believe it wouldn’t make its way back from here.

When  she got into her car she picked up her phone and saw a missed call and few messages from her husband. 

“What’s wrong?” was the last message he had sent. 

“Nothing. I’m on my way home now.” She sent the message and started the ignition. 

When she got home her husband was on the living room floor with Ally, coloring in her Minnie Mouse coloring book. His eyes roamed over her disheveled state, concern written across his features. 

She let out a weak sigh, doing her best to let go of any lingering anxiety. She looked to Ally, blissfully unaware of her mother’s frazzled state. Her eyes landed on Ally’s wrist, there was that God forsaken bracelet. The tightness in her chest squeezed the air from her lungs.

Ally looked up to her mom and noticed her gaze, raising her wrist into the air she said, “Do you like my bracelet mommy? I’ve got a bunch of them!”

“What?” She was desperately trying to understand what Ally was saying, but her mind was racing. 

“Yeah, when I stayed the night with Aunt Jamie she got me a bunch of them!” Ally took off running to her room and returned with a plastic bag, half filled with bracelets identical to the one she had just disposed of. “I left some for you as a present, but I guess you don’t see them.” she said giggling. 

She allowed Ally to slip one of the bracelets onto her wrist. She examined it for a moment before letting her arms fall heavy at her sides. She couldn’t hold back the hysterical laughter that built up inside her. Her husband stared horrified. She must look like a maniac! Covered in dirt, in her nightgown, cackling at the realization Ally had just brought her to.

At least she had a funny story to tell now. 

The End.