While rearranging the few diamond rings on sale a rundown
shop, with leaky ceiling, Leopold was humming a tune from his youth. He smiled at the thought of his big projects he had 43 years ago, back then he wanted to be in a fancy street, selling engagement rings with colourful precious stones.
Today almost half a century later, his dreams had only partially come true. His shop was small and hidden, no one was interested in coloured stones, and the few diamonds he sold were lacking fire, they did not interest him. Leopold had kept his store through many years of deception due to his love for emeralds and for his wife.
He always tried to convince the young men, searching for the ring, to opt for an aquamarine, a ruby, a zircon, or above all an emerald, to find the right stone for their soulmate.
In his collection, Leopold had a wide variety of emeralds, in different shades of green, in different cuts and sizes, he had something for every wallet, still it was rare that someone opted for an emerald. Leopold’s pride was a very large stone, of a purity rare for its size. He showed only to his most trusted clients, as it had been a gift to his wife, who had died too young, at their wedding 43 years ago. He had given it to her because it suited her red hair and emerald green eyes more than well.
Written by Solveig Werner
Solveig Werner 
Oh, dear – hope this story turns out well! My parents were jewellers and gemmologists – they sold what sold, otherwise they’d have been bankrupt!
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I guess that’s how it works most of the time in that business, you have to sell what the customers want and not what you would like… It is the same for so many things I think.
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Beautiful flash fiction piece!
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Thank you! I only recently discovered the genre of flash fiction, and I am starting to enjoy writing it a lot.
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I enjoyed the story. Hope you are having fun with the A to Z challenge.
Yvonne
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Thank you, I hope that you’ll enjoy my other posts. I am enjoying the challenge a lot. Occasionally it does stress me a bit, when I have nothing ready, or am not too happy with my piece.
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This story is beautiful and sad. I also love emeralds. They can be expensive so I don’t own any, but they are beautiful. Diamonds are overrated.
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Aren’t they? I think that there are many different stones out there to which we do not pay enough attention..
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Yes, I agree. My personal favorites are lapis lazuli and amethyst.
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Those two are great choices 🙂
I wear an amethyst ring. One of my favorites is aquamarine.
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