Diane's Ring

At the end of her first week of being a teacher, Diane’s grandmother, Mimi, gifted her a ring. It was a simple silver band with a single opal set in the middle. She had bought it on a trip to Australia when she was young and had worn it every day. As a child, Diane always admired the ring and would spin it around on her grandmother’s finger. Mimi knew how much her granddaughter loved the ring, and this seemed like the perfect time to give it to her. Mimi had been a teacher herself, and now that Diane had followed in her footsteps, it felt like the appropriate time. They were extremely close and the ring meant so much to both of them. Diane had promised to keep the ring always.

Diane didn’t like to take off the ring, but she always did when she washed her hands because she didn’t want it to slip off into the sink and down the drain. One Friday afternoon, she was washing her hands in her classroom sink after a particularly messy activity that involved glue and glitter and paint. This particular day, she washed her hands in a rush, leaving the ring on the counter next to the sink. She promptly forgot about it because two of her students, Lainey and Petunia, started pushing each other because of some story about not sharing crayons. Since it was right before dismissal for the day, she became further distracted with getting her classroom full of 25 eight-year-olds ready to head home for the afternoon, and for the first time ever, she forgot about the ring. 

In the midst of the afternoon classroom commotion, however, the ring did not end up staying on that counter. The sink was busy that afternoon; students with assigned classroom jobs had to wash paint brushes and containers, and many other students needed to wash their hands of paint and glitter too. By the time the bell rang and everybody rushed out of the room, nobody knew that the ring had slid off the counter and landed perfectly in the front pouch pocket of the hoodie that little Bobby Stevenson was wearing that day. The ring was light enough that he didn’t feel it enter his pocket. He was also one of those little boys that was generally always unaware of what was going on around him so it would come to no one’s surprise that he wouldn’t have noticed, had anyone actually discovered the whereabouts of the ring. 

Diane hugged all of her students as they left her classroom for the day, which had a door directly to the school yard where parents, siblings and babysitters would pick up the kids. When it was Bobby’s turn, neither he nor Diane knew the ring was in his pocket when they hugged goodbye. Bobby, who despite his absentmindedness was the most polite little boy, said “Bye Miss Miller, have a nice weekend!” and he ran out the door to Maureen, his next door neighbor who picked him up from school everyday. Maureen waved to Diane Miller as she, Bobby, and her two young sons walked towards her house down the road.

Back in the classroom, Diane started to organize supplies and prepare the room for Monday morning. She liked to stay a little bit later especially on Fridays so that she could wrap up the craziness of the week and get everything ready for the next week. She organized books, made sure that worksheets and activities were photocopied and stacked in the right bins, and updated her bulletin boards. When she started wiping down all of the student desks with disinfectant wipes, she realized that her ring wasn’t on her finger. I must have left it next to the sink. She walked over to the sink and of course it wasn’t there. 

Diane wasn’t the type of person to get upset quickly or easily, and today was no exception. She took a deep breath and started to look around, thinking it must have fallen off the counter and onto the floor. She started looking.

***

Every afternoon at Maureen Quinn’s house, the children sat at the kitchen table and ate their afternoon snack of peanut butter and apple slices before going to run around in the backyard, or going to horse around in the basement. The sky outside was a dark gray, so that day she encouraged the boys to go downstairs, expecting it to downpour any minute. The boys thumped down the stairs like a herd of elephants and she could hear them running around playing. Maureen liked having the boys in the afternoon. She worked from home and even though it was nice to have a quiet house during the day to get work done, it was nice to have some noise in the afternoon, especially on a Friday. That day she had wrapped up her work early and started cooking some sort of elaborate chicken dinner she had seen in one of those cutesy recipe videos that popped up on Facebook. 

Downstairs, the boys’ playing involved jumping on the couch and running around in circles. It was some sort of make believe game with wizards and dragons or something creative like that. If they tried to explain the rules of this particular game, they would have struggled to do so, and even if they could figure out a way, it would have been hard to understand; it was just one of those little boy games that had evolved over time and made sense just to them and to nobody else. Bobby, in the middle of a jump from the couch to the floor, did not notice that Mrs. Miller’s opal ring had fallen out of his hoodie pocket and slipped perfectly between the cushions of the couch and nestled itself underneath. As the boys continued to play and jump, the ring became wedged even more tightly in the crevice of the couch, so that even if someone were to look for it, it would not have been easy to notice. 

***

Back in her classroom, Diane started to cry. She had looked everywhere, and she had even solicited the help of some colleagues to start looking under desks and behind bookshelves for the ring. Of course, the search party that she had organized was futile; the ring, unknown to anyone, had already found its new home in Maureen’s couch. Diane honestly had no idea where it could be. She could kick herself. Defeated, she left her classroom half in disarray even after having spent so much time cleaning and organizing. She ran to her car to avoid getting wet; the dark sky and rain seemed to mimic her mood. She drove home in silence, with the occasional tear painting her face. She thought of her grandma, and couldn’t imagine telling her that the ring had gone missing, and she thought of all of the ways she could avoid the subject the next time she went to see her. At home, Diane opened the freezer and grabbed a pint of ice cream. She texted her boyfriend, Nick, told him the story, and said that she just wanted to stay at home that night and she would see him the next day. He would understand.

***

That night, when Maureen’s husband, Tom, got home, the family enjoyed Maureen’s lovely chicken recipe and watched a movie on the couch in the basement. Tom, while sitting on the couch unknowingly on top of Diane’s ring, suggested that they buy a new one that weekend since he had heard about a closeout sale at a local furniture store. Maureen thought that sounded like a great idea. They had been thinking about it for a while, and even though this was a beautiful couch, their basement would look even better with a large sectional. When the family had finished their movie, she fixed the throw pillows on the couch and took a picture so she could list it on a second-hand furniture app on her iPhone. Maybe a local bachelor or student could buy it, she thought. She posted it online for a great price of $50 and went to bed.

***

That night, Nick, who had just rented a new apartment, felt disappointed that his girlfriend Diane wasn’t coming over, because he needed her help buying a new couch. He had no idea what kind of couch to buy, but he knew how important Diane’s grandmother’s ring was. He also knew that when Diane was upset, the best thing to do was to leave her alone. So, he plopped down on a folding chair and started looking for a used couch on the same second-hand furniture app that Maureen used. Sounds like that would be easiest, right? He came across Maureen’s ad for the used couch for only $50. The couch looked nice in the picture. It was dark gray and looked almost new, and he thought it would be a good couch no matter what because it was simple and later on Diane could help him with pillows and whatnot to make it look presentable. He sent Maureen a message, and the next morning, they agreed to a time that afternoon for him to come and pick up the couch. Nick’s friend Steve had a pickup truck that he could borrow for the afternoon to pick up the couch. 

Around 2pm, Nick and Steve showed up at Maureen and Tom’s house and they had a friendly exchange. Maureen and Tom were happy that the couch was able to sell so quickly and to such a friendly young guy, especially since they had already bought a brand new beautiful sectional couch that would look just perfect in their basement. Tom helped Nick and Steve carry the couch up the stairs, which was easier than any of them expected, and on to the bed of the pickup truck, all the while with Diane’s opal ring wedged into the couch. They strapped the couch down so that it wouldn’t move around on the fifteen-minute drive to Nick’s new apartment. Nick handed Maureen a crisp $50 bill he had picked up from the ATM that morning, got in the truck, and drove away. At home, Steve helped him carry the couch into the apartment and place it in the living room. When Steve left, Nick sat down on the couch pleased with his purchase, and shortly fell asleep.

***

Diane had a terrible day. She fell in and out of fits of crying, and couldn’t focus on a single task. She tried everything from planning lesson activities for her students, to going for a run, to baking cookies, but nothing took her mind off the ring. Her hand felt naked without it and her brain felt empty as she tried to imagine the possibilities of where it could have gone. She felt stupid and careless and didn’t think she could ever get over having lost it. As the sun started setting, she finally resigned herself to the fact that it was gone for good, and she would have to deal with it. 

She got into her car and started to head towards her boyfriend Nick’s new apartment, which she had promised she’d go and see that evening. He had texted her about a new couch he had bought and he wanted her to see it and help him with the decorations. Maybe that would help her feel a little bit better, or at least distract her for a bit. Besides, she had felt a little badly about not seeing him the night before.

She got to his apartment complex quickly, and knocked on the door. Nick answered the door with a big smile, and a large glass of wine in hand. She took the wine from him, gave him a quick kiss, walked in, and took a large gulp.

“The couch looks great, babe!” She said, trying to hide her mood behind the encouraging words, but she didn’t think she had done a good job. “Is it comfortable?”

“Yeah, it’s great. I had a great nap on it as soon as I brought it home. Have a seat, tell me what you think.”

Diane walked over to the couch and had a seat, and was surprised by how comfortable it was; in fact, she could hardly believe he had bought it used because it looked and felt brand new. She took another large sip of wine.

“You’re still in a lousy mood, huh?” Nick asked her.

She nodded. “I just have no idea where that ring could have gone. It’s a complete mystery,” she said, and she took another sip of her wine, without knowing that her grandmother’s ring was directly underneath the exact spot where she was sitting.

“Can you pour me another glass?” She asked sadly. Nick obliged.