THE TURQUOISE MEDALLION

THE TURQUOISE MEDALLION

The first time he saw it, it was hanging from a silver  necklace around the neck, or, more precisely, on the chest of his colleague Sybil. That round pendant of a few centimeters in diameter was noticed, it leapt to the eyes because of the bright turquoise , which was the background color. In the centre of that shimmering turquoise enamel surface there was a very small figure which, seen from distance  looked like a stylized heart,  while it was instead a very little bird, with its head folded on its chest and its wings upright , which could be as much a bird that was about to take off, as a bird that had just landed on the ground.

Peter had been more than surprised  to see such a flashy ornament on Sybil, who, in addition to dressing discreetly, soberly, was usual to bring only ornaments , even if they were jewels, very discreet, which were almost not noticeable. Peter had approached  her curiously  to be able to observe that dazzling medallion. Strange, he had never seen one like that ( this), although he used to stop and look at the windows of the jewelers .Sybil had told him that a friend of hers, who had returned from a long trip to South America, had brought the medallion to her. It was an object which had made only in a small, remote village in Peru, and which, despite globalization, was not on the market. It could only be found in the remote village where it was manufactured. It was evident that Sybil was convinced , and also proud, to wear an absolute rarity.

Not even a month had passed , and Peter saw that same turquoise medallion , hanging from a necklace, on a woman , who was shopping in the supermarket.  He did not even know that woman by sight, but he couldn’t help but approach her , so he could be sure he wasn’t wrong about what he was seeing: what that woman wore was a medallion precisely like that of Sybil.

Not only Peter approached that woman, he also asked her if he could take the medallion in his hand, and put it on the palm of his hand, to observe it attentively.” Beautiful, right? Everyone likes it. It’s a real wonder” The woman said, she too, very proud of her medallion. “ It comes from Peru, doesn’t it?” It was natural to ask for Peter.  At his words the woman looked at Peter with wide eyes. “ From Peru? But what do you say? Oh, my God, first at all I don’t know where this little gem was made, I really don’t have the slightest idea about this. An aunt of mine, who never goes out of the neighborhood, gave this gem to me.” “ Do you mean that your aunt bought it here in the surroundings?” Peter asked, incredulous. “ Yes, it is probably. Maybe she have found it in one of the markets here around” the woman said, looking at him almost perplexed. “Ah, but…maybe this medallion was instead given to her by someone ….probably someone from the parish, which my aunt attends assiduously. “ The woman added, after a moment of silence. At those words, Peter breathed a  sigh of relief But sure, people from all over the world came to the parish, missionaries, refugees, immigrants . In short, Peter said to himself that even the turquoise medallion at the neck of this woman, like that of Sybil, could come from the same remote village in Peru. But the relief did not last long. The following day Peter could not believe his eyes when in the dentist’s waiting room he saw a dozen medallions like that of Sybil, hanging on a wall, close each other. Oh, incredible! Entering the waiting room, at first he only glanced a zone of that bright, dazzling turquoise on a wall, a squared area of turquoise, which soon made him think at…..that  medallion. Oh, but the more incredible, when he noticed that squared area of turquoise consisted of a dozen of medallions. Peter was afflicted with a terrible toothache, he had a swollen cheek, however he could not help but take a close look at those turquoise medallions which made dazzling the wall, even the room. So, holding a hand on his swollen and painful cheek, he went next the medallions hanging on the wall and began to examine them one by one. Each of the medallions was identical to the one of Sybil, and the other of the woman met in the supermarket.  “ This then! Where did these come from?  Did these also come from Peru?” Peter, more than stunned, wondered. Then he asked the other waiting patients about the medallions, but they replied with a shrug. None of them knew anything about those lockets , and none of them cared about them either. But the surprise, the astonishment for those medallions deployed on the wall was forgotten, overcome as soon as Peter entered in the dentist’s office. Here what he saw at first glance was still a turquoise medallion that made a good show of itself upright inside a dentures wide open like an obscene mouth. Despite the severe toothache, that made him suffer, Peter could help but say: “ I see you must have been to Peru, don’t you?” The dentist looked at him stunned. But no, that medallion did not come from Peru at all . It came from South Africa, a colleague of his, who had been to South Africa, had given it  and others like it to him. Ah, why had he put the medallion inside the denture? Oh, it seemed to him it was just the right place for such a thing. Didn’t it seem to him too?   Two days later, in the bar where Peter had gone to have a coffee, the bartender place a turquoise medallion identical to the others next to his cup of coffee. The bartender told him that it was an object of which Mrs Gina Prayer had brought him a lot of copies, asking him to propose them ( the medallions) to his clients, who could make a free offer to have one or more medallions. The money raised would be used for humanitarian missions in Africa.

Peter couldn’t resist his curiosity and asked where those medallions came from, where they were made. He also mentioned what he had heard about it( about their provenience). But, in short, did they came from Peru or from South Africa? The bartender widened his eyes incredulous to hear Peru and South Africa. A young waitress then came forward to clarify. Oh, that marvel of medallions, she said, excellent example of an artistic handcraft  now almost completely disappeared, came none other than( nothing less than) Manchuria, where they were made by  the descendants  of the Japanese who had been taken prisoner___and then enslaved___during the last war between China and Japan. The young waitress pointed out to Peter how the tiny figure of the bird in the centre of the turquoise surface  reminded the Japanese ink drawings.

Ah, but there was more to know. Those wonderful turquoise medallions were therefore produced ( made) in Manchuria by the descendants of Japanese prisoner of war, since they were still slaves of the Chinese. These latter ( the Chinese) then brought  the medallions to Africa, which they were occupying. In Africa the fantastic medallions were sold, by the Chinese, to humanitarian organizations which took care of Africans who suffered by hunger and thirst , who, poor people, were killed by diseases for lack of medicines. Those worthy humanitarian organizations entrusted the wonderful medallions they had bought from the Chinese to merciful women like Mrs Gina____ah , there were a lot of women, and men too, like her____who offered those beautiful, rare  objects to the people here, in our country, who, in exchange of offers, oh, of course, free offers, could have them. The money so raised would be used to help the population of Africa threatened by hunger, by thirst, by diseases.

Of course Peter made an offer for a medallion. But he was more and more perplexed.  He put the medallion in his jacket pocket, put his hand into his pocket and squeezed the medallion in his hand. He seemed to feel it pulse, beat. So that he came to think of the tiny little bird in the centre of the medallion. He seemed, but indeed he believed, even if only for an instant, they were, the wings of the little bird, to do that beat.                                                                                                   Peter couldn’t decide to tell Sybil, whom he saw every day, that he too had a medallion like hers. And he even wanted to tell his colleague what he had learned from the bartender and the waitress : that medallions like hers were made in Manchuria , by the descendants of the Japanese taken prisoner by the Chinese , during the last Chinese Japanese conflict. But every time, when he was about to talk to Sybil of the medallion, Peter didn’t make it. Then, when for a few days he noticed that Sybil was no longer wearing the turquoise medallion, he asked her WHY. Was she tired of that ornament? Didn’t she like it anymore? “ it’s gone” Sybil said, looking at him with a smile. “ What’s gone? Do you mean you lost it? Or was it stolen?” He asked, incredulous. Sybil kept on smiling at him. “No, no one stole it, and I haven’t lost it. Simply my medallion flew away” Sybil said. “ Oh, but what are you telling?” Peter was more and more stunned. “ Yes, my medallion disappeared under my eyes “ Sybil said. Then she began to explain that it was a…a faculty proper to those wonderful medallions. They could suddenly disappear if the little bird in the centre of the turquoise succeeded in taking off. Peter was fascinated, but even scared at Sybil’s words. He put his hand into his jacket pocket and squeezed his medallion tightly. He wanted to make sure that it didn’t fly away