Spiral

She didn’t know when she first noticed the ring inside the mansion on 3^rd Street. Her job was to clean the mansion weekly. In the beginning, she only gave the ring a glance. She’d walk into the room to clean it and she’d clean around the ring. But she never touched it. She’d never thought about it much either. Yes it was beautiful, with its gold band dotted with diamonds that led to the biggest gem she’d ever seen sitting on top. It was a curse that came with her job. She was forced to clean things that she’d never get to own. She lived in an old apartment that was barely big enough for her and yet she cleaned mansions.

            She dusted the furniture in all the rooms that must have cost thousands of dollars. Her home was sparce. She didn’t have money to spend on things like that. She saw all the things that the owners of the houses just left lying about. Things she’d never see in her apartment. It was hard and unfair, but she did what she had to do to make a living. 

            One day, she was back in the room with the ring when she heard her phone. A call from her father. This was a rare occurrence because they could barely get through a couple minutes talking to each other before they began arguing. With a sigh, she took her phone out of her pocket and accepted the call.

            “What do you need?” she asked.

            “It’s your mother,” he replied. His voice was unusually somber. “She’s not getting any better. I know that we don’t have the best relationship, but we need help. If we aren’t able to get enough money to pay for a new type of treatment, she won’t make it. We can’t afford it on our own. Please, can you help us?” 

            “What!?!” she exclaimed. “I thought that she was getting better. The treatment was supposed to work. You know I don’t make much money, but I’ll try to help.”

            “Thank you,” he said. “It means so much to your mother and me.”

            “You’re welcome,” she said, and hung up the phone.

            What am I going to do? She thought to herself. She felt tears slowly rolling down her cheeks. She hadn’t even noticed she was crying. I’m a mess. I’m on my phone and crying at work. I have to get enough money to help mom, but how? Her eyes subconsciously flitted to the ring. 

            “If only I had enough money as the people living in this house,” she said to herself. “Then all my problems would be solved.” She took a step towards the ring before stopping herself.

            Why do I keep looking at the ring? She silently asked herself. She then shook her head to clear away her thoughts and sighed. She had to get back to work. The rest of the day passed slowly even though she spent most of it spacing out. That night, after work, she climbed up the old stairs, stepping over dead cockroaches, and let herself into her apartment. She didn’t make herself dinner, as she did most nights. She just collapsed onto her bed. 

            I wish I had that ring was the last thought she had before she fell asleep. The next morning she awoke to the feeling of dread. But why? Then she remembered. She had to find a way to get more money. Before her cleaning job, she’d tried to find other, better paying jobs. But she didn’t have a college degree. Because of her mother’s health problems, her family never had much money and she couldn’t afford college. She got a low paying job that she was barely able to support herself on. 

            If only things were different. With that thought, she got up and pushed herself out of bed. She had to go to work. Her first house of the day wasn’t quite as big as the house with the ring, but it was a nice house in the better part of town. As she walked to the house, she looked around her. All around her, there were people walking with family and friends. People rode bikes and walked their dogs. Why didn’t they have work to do? Why did she work so hard every day, but she could still barely afford to buy food?

            “It’s not fair,” she muttered to herself. She passed by fancy restaurants and clothing stores selling clothes that were worth more than what she made in a week. As she got closer to the house, she saw another store, a pawn shop. If only she had things to sell there.

            Like a ring. The thought had popped into her head. Why was the ring always on her mind? It followed her around no matter where she went like a shadow. But at least she could ignore her shadow. The ring would never leave her thoughts for long. She quickly walked past the shop and within the next few minutes made it to the house. 

            She spent hours cleaning the house, making it spotless. She once more cleaned the things she’d never get to have. 

            Unless I had money. She thought. Then I’d be able to help mom pay her bills. I’d also be able to buy myself a nice house like this one. But how can I get enough money? Thoughts like those had been entering her mind more often than not. If only she could get those thoughts to leave. Because if they didn’t, she didn’t know what would happen. 

            On her way back to her dirty, cramped apartment, she passed by the pawn shop again. It was still open. Without thinking, her body turned towards it. It was like she was in a trance. Her hand moved up to the door and opened it. She stepped inside. She found an employee and before she knew it, she was asking the man a question.

            “Do you accept rings here?” she asked.

            “It depends on the ring,” he replied. “Bring it in and I’ll take a look.”

            “I will,” she said, without thinking and exited the shop. “What did I just do?” 

            I’m just tired. She thought to herself. I just need sleep and then I’ll be fine. Then I’ll be back to normal. I won’t think about the ring anymore and I’ll stop acting so strange. She made it home and ate a small dinner before going to bed. That night it took hours for her to fall asleep. She couldn’t get the image of her mother dying out of her head. When she did fall asleep, it was only thoughts of the ring that had put her to sleep. 

            Days passed by and nothing had gone back to normal. It had gotten worse. She couldn’t stop thinking about the ring. She’d have trouble falling asleep, and when she did sleep, she dreamt about the ring. She’d also unconsciously started to rationalize all her thoughts and actions.

            “They wouldn’t notice. I’ll take the ring and all my problems will be solved,” she said with a giggle. “They probably have a lot of jewelry like that but I’m not taking those. I’ll leave the rest for them. Tomorrow I’ll be back at the house and the ring will be mine.”

            The day passed by quickly much to her delight. Once she’d realized that she could simply take the ring, she was able to sleep again, and she spent her days smiling. She imagined taking the ring and holding it in her hands. She thought of when she’d be able to sell it. 

            “Then I won’t have to worry anymore,” she said through her smile. After work that day, she quickly went to bed. That night she was easily able to sleep and the next morning, her first thoughts were of the ring. She skipped breakfast that morning and rushed to the house. She knocked on the door and bounced on the balls of her feet as she waited for someone to answer the door.

            “Oh, you’re early today,” a woman said as she opened the door. 

            “I’ll get started right away,” she said and hurried into the house. She ran up the stairs and into the room with the ring. She put down her cleaning supplies and slowly walked over to it. 

            “Hello ring! I’m going to be your new owner!” she whispered, and then laughed. “But only for a little while because then I’m going to sell you.” She reached out and picked up the ring. She stared at it for a while. It was the most beautiful ring in the world. It would save her. She went to slip it onto her finger but stopped.

            This isn’t right. A voice in her head quietly spoke.

            “They won’t notice,” she replied. “It will help my mom. Here, it’s just gathering dust.”

            Don’t take it. The voice said. Was it her conscious, or a last bit of sanity left in her? Probably, but it was slowly dwindling away. The voice had gotten quieter. It couldn’t fight for much longer.

            “This ring it mine now,” she said.           

            Please, don’t… The voice whispered before trailing off.

            She slipped the ring onto her finger and hummed to herself as she walked over to her cleaning supplies. It was going to be her last day working. She kissed the ring and laughed. The ring showed her reflection. If she had looked closer, she wouldn’t have recognized herself. She was gone.