Genevieve's Talisman

"I know you loved that thing Gen, so did I. It was a beautiful object and I know it kept your Grandma close, but we've looked all over the beach, the cafe, the church. Everywhere we've been today. Its gone Gen. All we can do is hope that someone responds to the notices. Come on, lets go home."

Cillian held his wife's hand and nudged her away from the cave they had been exploring.

"Its not that Cill, I can handle losing it. It won't bring Grandma back, I know that. But it will ruin everything else. I told you that when I met you. I'm coming back here every day, until I find it."

Cillian did not protest. He knew his new bride meant it. She had never been parted from the talisman since her Grandma had passed it to her from her hospital bed.

"Genevieve. My dearest granddaughter, I want you to have this. When your grandfather was alive, he treasured it. He swore blind it brought him luck. He even said that this little thing was what brought him to me. Or me to him for that matter!" Grandma began to laugh but it turned into a cough and splutter. She was given oxygen and told to rest by the nurses. As Genevieve had held the object in her hand, it felt warm, almost alive. It was not a diamond or an emerald, but it was something like that. Predominantly green, but containing a festival of colour within. Like prisms within prisms. She turned it over in her hand. It was at that time she began to have the visions.

Genevieve sat alone in the hospital cafeteria, waiting to return to her grandmother's bedside. She took the stone out from her pocket again. Gazing at its mysterious complexity. There was nothing like it anywhere. She had researched books and the web and taken it to jewellers and even a local archaeologist. They were all as perplexed as she was. She would keep it safe. Keep it about her person at all times. Grandma would like that, then, she would feel close to her wherever she was.

The last conversation Genevieve had with her grandmother was about the stone.

"A lucky talisman, your Grandfather called it. He took it everywhere he went. He won money on the horse racing, the lotteries. He even saved a young man from drowning in the lake, did you know? So cold that lake was. That poor little boy. It was sunny you see, but when he hit the water.. well, a shock it was. Your granddad just jumped in, fully clothed Gen! Yet he was no great shakes as a swimmer. He front-crawled out there and back-stroked to shore with the boy. His poor mother was distraught. Your gramps just said he did what anyone would have done. Funny, the night before the lake, he told me he needed to be there and he didn't know why. He said the stone felt fuzzy in his hand. Next day he went for his walk and saved a life!

He was able to help the whole family Genevieve, make us all comfortable, not just in a financial way. It was as though, since finding the stone, that his soul was on a mission to spread happiness. He was not a greedy man either. He never shouted about the money, but he would help charities or tip the waitresses quite a bit. Oh Gen, I loved him so. Do you know, my love? Through our whole marriage, I can't recall him ever being without the talisman. As he got older, he was never ill. He never complained. He still worked until he was eighty five!

Then, we had seven more years together. He slowed physically but never in spirit. He said 'If you think your plonking me in a home, staring out of the window with a flannelette blanket and a crossword book, waiting for creamed mash and green beans, you can think again!' Grandma chortled at the recollection.

So, being gramps, we went on a cruise.. I know right! But we felt fit as the proverbial butchers dog, Gen. In here.." Grandma tapped her temple.

"I remember as we sailed the fjords, he came to bed one night after he had been at the casino. 'Out gallivanting, I told him. I'd had enough for the night, I wanted my book! He had won the jackpot again and given all the money to be shared by the ships crew. All he asked for was a table for two the next night, for the both of us. Tender steak, garlic mushrooms, sauteed potatoes and the finest malbec. We were to sit and eat it while the music played. We didn't even have dentures Gen, at our advanced stage of life, ha-ha! I can see you trying not to laugh! No, as I said, our health had actually gotten better and better since your grandfather found his talisman.

He said it wasn't luck, the stone. It had a warmth and a power of its own. He felt it. Of course, I nodded and smiled, but truthfully? I thought he had been reading those fantasy novels again! Whatever, the talisman made him happy and he made me more than happy. Oh Genevieve, we wanted for nothing. I woke the next morning, on the boat, and leant over to kiss him. He had a beaming smile on his face and the talisman was held out in the palm of his hand, like he was passing it on to me. He had passed away Gen, but he must have slipped away so peacefully and the last thing he had said to me was.." Tears rolled down grandma's face, but it was a happy recollection. Genevieve did not interrupt.

"Oh Gen, he just said 'See you at dinner sweetheart.' He had done the voice, you know, like in the really old movies. I just laughed as I always did. Romantic until the end. So there you have it my darling. Take the talisman. I really hope it brings you and your new beau, Cillian, all the happiness it gave me and Walter.."

After grandma had devoured her evening meal and taken her cocoa, visiting hours came to a close. Genevieve bade her farewell and hugged her close. She would be back as always, the next day. She was going to be right as rain and was to come and stay with her and Cillian. Grandma had gone to sleep that night with the same beaming smile on her face as her Walter had. She too, had passed in peace and knowing her family were safe, healthy and happy.

After that, Genevieve had never let the talisman out of her sight. She carried it everywhere, every day and set it on her bedside table every night. She never asked it for good fortune, or riches. That just.. happened. She did pray for good health for all of her family. That of her own mother and father and of Cillian's. It was not so much good luck, like finding some money on the ground or getting home minutes before a storm. It was just that everything seemed to go right as soon s she had taken possession of the talisman.

Genevieve had always put maximum effort into her job, her family, her hobbies, her relationship with Cillian. All of a sudden though, since receiving the talisman, everything went right. It was fantastic. She received a promotion at work, they went on dream vacations all over the world. They looked after their families and lived in a beautiful home. Like her grandparents, Genevieve was not greedy. But she and Cillian enjoyed a rich and diverse life and remained in great health. It was idyllic and all around her seemed happy. Just like her grandmother had said when 'gramps' made it his mission to spread happiness.

Except now, the talisman was lost. They had been out all day, since dawn . They loved to make the most of the weekends and were lucky enough to live within a brisk walk of a beautiful, secluded beach that was quiet and had an aura of its own and had something to offer each time they visited. The little cafeteria served delicious home cooked lunches and was run by a local family. Genevieve enjoyed getting to know the local people and was soon embraced as one of their own. The fish pie was to die for. After lunch, they strode in sandal-feet down to the shore. Genevieve had a sense of adventure, just like her grandparents had. She wanted to explore the caves and caverns with Cillian, so after strolling through the shallows and letting the waves and salty sand exfoliate their skin, off they had gone to the caves further up the beach.

The Talisman had felt warm in Genevieve's hand as she had felt for it in her shorts pocket, that's what had made her take it out, but they were talking animatedly at the the time and she thought that she had simply put it back. She cursed herself for being absent minded. Perhaps it had slipped out. The shorts were baggy. So, the rest of the day, they had searched but to no avail.

Genevieve sighed as Cillian grabbed her hand.

"We'll come back tomorrow and every day Gen. I promise. I know how much it means to you. We'll find it. Come on, trust me Gen. I just don't want us to get caught out by the tide." Genevieve looked at the fading light and the incoming tide and caved to Cillian's common sense.

Together, they made their way up the winding pathway to the top of the hill and turned to look back on the beautiful bay. A tawny owl swooped overhead, having come out from its slumber in the eaves of the nearby church. The bay was alive with the sound of oystercatchers and the almost ghostly calls of whimbrels and curlews.

"I love this place Cillian. Can we never leave?" Genevieve held her husband close to her, nestling into his shoulder.

"Gen, I love you too, and no, we are never going to leave this place, I promise."

Cillian had not realised the chilling accuracy of his remark.