It's Mine!

There was a small village nestled at the foot of a towering mountain. In this village, there lived a young girl named Lily who had a prized possession: a beautiful ruby necklace that had been handed down to her by her grandmother.

Lily treasured the necklace, and now as a teenager, her mother allowed her to wear it everywhere she went. The necklace sparkled in the sunlight, and it was the envy of all the girls in the village. One day, as Lily was walking through the town, she noticed a girl staring at her necklace with a look of pure jealousy.

'Wow, that necklace is amazing,' the girl said. 'I wish I had something like that.'

Lily smiled at the girl, but deep down; she felt a pang of unease. She didn't like how the girl looked at her necklace and suddenly felt she needed to protect it.

'It's mine, and you can't have it,' Lily said firmly.

The girl looked disappointed, but she didn't argue with Lily. Instead, the girl disappeared into the forest. From that day forward, Lily kept a close eye on her necklace. She never took it off, not even to sleep, no longer on her blouse, but under it, and she always kept it hidden from prying eyes.

Days turned into weeks, and weeks turned into months. Lily grew increasingly obsessed with her necklace, and she started to become paranoid. She often imagined someone stealing it or the chain disappearing into thin air. Her anxiety was so bad that she stopped going out altogether, choosing instead to spend all her time in her room.

One day, Lily was sitting alone in her room and heard a strange noise outside. She cautiously approached the window and peered out but couldn't see anything. Then, just as she was about to turn away, she saw a shadow move across the ground.

Panicked, Lily rushed to her door and locked it. She felt her heart pounding in her chest as she tried to calm herself down. Suddenly, there was a loud knock on the door.

Lily froze. She didn't know what to do. She could feel her hands shaking, and her breath came in short gasps. The knocking continued, growing louder and more insistent by the second.

Finally, Lily mustered up the courage to approach the door. She cautiously unlocked it and then flung it open.

To her surprise, she found the girl from the village standing there, a worried expression on her face.

'Hello, I'm Sadie; I'm sorry to bother you,' the girl said. 'I just wanted to make sure you were okay. I heard a noise, and I thought maybe someone was trying to break in.'

Lily felt a wave of relief wash over her. She had been so scared, and now she felt silly for overreacting.

'I'm fine,' Lily said. 'Thank you for checking on me.'

The girl nodded, but then she hesitated.

'Listen, I know we haven't always been friends,' Sadie said. 'But I want you to know that I never wanted to steal your necklace. I was just jealous. I'm sorry.'

Lily was taken aback by the girl's confession. She had never realized that the girl was jealous of her necklace, and she certainly didn't think the girl would come to her house to apologize.

'It's okay,' Lily said. 'I understand. I'm sorry I was so protective of it. I guess I love it so much.'

Sadie smiled. She was surprised by Lily by taking off her necklace and offering it to her.

'Here,' the girl said. 'Take this. It's not as fancy as yours, but I hope it will show you that I'm sorry and want to be your friend. These trinkets were passed down to me by my grandmother.'

The girl's gesture touched Lily. Sadie had heard a story about Lily's ruby necklace from her mother.

As the days passed, the girl's jealousy of Lily's ruby necklace grew stronger. Sadie could not stop thinking about it, and her desire to own it became an obsession. She would spend hours imagining herself wearing the necklace and feeling the weight of it around her neck.

The girl decided she had to have the necklace, no matter what. Then, she could try to steal it from Lily, but the girl had become so protective of it that she never let it out of her sight. Sadie even went as far as to hire a thief to steal the necklace for her, but Lily caught on and had the thief arrested.

Frustrated and desperate, Sadie came up with a plan. She invited Lily to her house for a dinner party, hoping to use the opportunity to steal the necklace. Lily accepted the invitation, excited to finally make amends with the girl and put their past differences behind them.

The dinner party was lavish, and the girl spared no expense. She had even hired a personal chef to prepare a sumptuous feast for them. Lily was impressed by the girl's hospitality and the effort she had put into the evening.

After dinner, the girl suggested they walk in her garden. Lily agreed, and they strolled together, admiring the flowers and the moonlit sky.

'Years ago, my grandmother sat me on her knee and told me family history. Do you know we are related?'

'Are you sure? My mother told me that we were the last of our clan,' answered Lily.

'No, dear cousin, or should it be a second cousin? I'm never sure.'

'Our grandmothers were sisters. Twin sisters.'

'No, cannot be. My grandmother was an only child.'

'She acted as such, true. She was the younger by thirty minutes,' said Sadie.

'And what are you telling me?'

'My grandmother was the elder, therefore, the heir to our family wealth.'

'And?'

'Their father, in his wisdom, gave your grandmother the rubies. They should have been mine.'

'But, I don't understand?' said Lily.

'The first daughter to wed and not the oldest got the necklace.'

'Well, that's fair. So what is your problem?'

'I want them, and they are mine.'

The girls glared at each other as they continued walking. Sadie saw her chance. She grabbed Lily by the neck, choking her and demanding that she hand over the necklace. Lily struggled, but Sadie was too strong, and in the struggle, the necklace broke and scattered onto the ground.

Both girls gasped in horror as the precious rubies scattered around them, glinting in the moonlight. They fell to the ground, frantically scrambling to pick up the fallen gems.

As they collected the rubies, Sadie spotted a chance. She grabbed a large rock and struck Lily on the head, knocking her unconscious. The girl then grabbed the gems and the rest of the necklace and fled the scene.

When Lily regained consciousness, she found herself alone in the garden. She felt the pain in her head, and the realization hit her that she had been betrayed by a family member she thought was her friend. She stumbled to her feet and saw that the ruby necklace was gone.

Lily felt a sense of emptiness and sadness, knowing she had lost something so dear. Then, as she walked back to her house, she realized that the girl she thought was her friend had done the unthinkable to get her hands on the necklace.

As for Sadie, she fled the village, taking the ruby necklace with her. She was never seen or heard from again, leaving behind only the memory of a girl willing to do anything to possess something that was not hers.

Lily learned a valuable lesson about the dangers of greed and the value of true friendship. She eventually moved on, but the memory of the ruby necklace and the girl who took it away stayed with her forever.

The END