Tom's Ring

Teen love – what a feeling. Brenda, the red headed girl, agreed to go steady with Tom. They were madly in love – not puppy love - this was forever. As forever as teens can be. He took his dad’s ring from his mother’s jewelry box, for Brenda to wear around her neck. Had his father been alive, Tom was sure he would approve. He constructed a necklace from the shoelace of his Nike Air Jordans. Brenda smiled and gave Tom a kiss, as she slipped the ring on a string, over her flaming red hair.

Then the awful dream. Tom awoke in a sweat. He dreamed he was sitting on the sofa with his love, Brenda. For no apparent reason, Brenda bolted to her feet, ran to the door, turned around, threw the ring at Tom and slammed the door as she ran away. Tom sat stunned on the sofa. This was no ordinary nightmare. It was real. Every movement in the dream was etched on Tom’s mind. He couldn’t shake the image of Brenda running away from him.

He longed to talk to Brenda to make sure everything was alright, but she was away with her parents and could not be reached. He sat in bed – trembling.

“Tom, a letter for you,” Tom’s mom called from the door, after retrieving the day’s mail. Tom froze – he stopped trembling as a chill ran up his spine. He knew what it was. The envelop was normal, but it had Brenda’s unmistakable handwriting. The envelop contained more than a letter.

As he opened the letter, the ring, still attached to the shoelace, fell to the floor. Tom’s heart fell with it.

The letter read, “Dear Tom,…I’m so sorry…”

From that day, Tom was afraid of sleeping and dreaming.

(298 words)