Treasure

It was a beauty to behold.

It was even more so when Isidore held it between his fingers. Like most precious items, the quality of magnificence multiples upon physical personal experience. Nothing in the pictures he'd seen of it prepared him for the grandeur he beheld. He lifted it up to the light. The contoured edges of the gemstone glistened in the pale dues of the twilight. Depending on the edge touched by the light, a mesmerising kaleidoscope danced before his eyes.

"It carries the worth of the bearer in the value of its origin: the peridot."

Those were the words engraved on the insides of the band. He remembered how he'd first been confused by the message of that army of words until he checked what "peridot" meant. He ran a thumb over the gemstone, filling his sensate faculties with the allure of the precious stone. He recalled the information he'd gathered of the peridot and felt his being becoming one with the gem.

The glorious yellowish gold-green Peridot had been under-appreciated for years, overlooked as a lesser gem, small, easily obtained and relatively inexpensive. Its popularity had fallen in and out of vogue for centuries. However, a new resurgence was bringing to light what Peridot lovers had always known: the endearing allure of a truly remarkable stone.

Called “the extreme gem” by gem experts, the peridot was born of fire and brought to light, one of only two gems (Diamond is the other) formed not in the Earth’s crust, but in the molten rock of the upper mantle and brought to the Earth's surface by the tremendous forces of earthquakes and volcanoes. While these Peridots are born of Earth, other crystals of the Peridot class had extraterrestrial origins, found in rare meteorites (only 61 known to date) formed some billions of years ago, remnants of our solar system’s birth.

Isidore found out that the Ancients believed, quite accurately, that Peridot was ejected to the Earth by a sun’s explosion and carried with it that sun's healing power.

He'd thought he'd found the most perfect creature to whom he was going to follow the family tradition of gifting this gem to. It was going to be a most pleasurable parting. As precious as the stone was, nothing was comparable to the love Isidore had grown for Abigail. He'd often told himself that if it was ever necessary, he'd not hesitate to give his life in exchange of hers. His love for her opened his consciousness to how much Jesus must've loved us and the saviour's desire to suffer the ignominy of the crucifixion for our salvation. Isidore had felt that this heartfelt commitment was entirely mutual.

He was wrong.

As he gloomily recalled the day of this discovery and the series of betrayals that followed, he absentmindedly stared at the stone which he held between his fingers to the light. His mind was far away, his thoughts were sombre and his face ashen.

It was at that moment he heard the voice. Soft. Tender. Feathery. Calming.

"In your hands," it had begun in a cadence that was soothing, "is the panacea for your heartbreak, my son."

Those last words opened his eyes to the source of the voice. Of course, he said to himself. It was his mother's mother. Her singsong tone had helped him sleep through nightmares and thunderstorms when she used to be alive. But ...

She was continuing, " ... Peridot remains regarded as both a day stone and a night stone, keeping its shining color even under artificial lighting. For this reason, it is sometimes called "Evening Emerald". It is also believed to be a gift from Mother Nature and considered a symbol of the yearly renewal of the planet."

He recalled reading such and wanted to say so, but he was both mesmerised by the musical quality of her voice and the ethereal notion of her presence. As she walked towards him, he remained spellbound by her appearance. She took the hand in which he had the gem and smiled with her lips and eyes.

"You were destined to come to possess this treasure of mine out of your siblings and cousins. It was by no coincidence. You have a good heart, my boy."

The smile was there again. Calming.

Then, the face became serious. And the voice, professorial.

"The peridot is an extraordinary crystal for healing the emotional body and resolving matters of the heart." It was as if grandma was clairvoyant. "It cleanses and heals hurt feelings and bruised egos, lessening anger, jealousy, resentment and spite, while teaching one to understand that holding onto people, or the past, is counterproductive to one’s growth. It teaches one to examine the past for the gift of the experiences, admit mistakes and let go of guilt and blame, forgiving oneself, or others, in order to move forward."

Isidore blinked. If there ever was a more timely message for him, he was yet to hear it. To move forward, to make progress he had to let go. And here was a gem entombed with the power to assist him on that path. He was honest enough to admit that he'd been holding on tenaciously to the hurt he'd suffered.

Grandma's voice cut into his thoughts, "Peridot stimulates psychological clarity and inspires a sense of happiness and contentedness in one’s life. It empowers one to detach the mind from outside influences and have confidence in one’s own abilities, looking inward for guidance and accessing the wisdom of the higher mind. It initiates independence and assertion without aggression, accepting the world as it is, then transforming it with clear intention to create the reality one wishes to have."

He needed to be open and introspective. He knew. Just that sometimes, he needed reminding. That was what he missed most about his mother. And about her mother too. She'd been ...

The notification tone of his smartphone chimed, instantaneously swooshing him back to reality. In the briefest of moments he thought he saw the gemstone pulsate like something alive. But it was gone in a flash. Blinking some more, he tried recollecting as much from his twilight reverie as he could while giving the precious stone he had in his palm a do over.

He'd conversed with his late grandma in such vivid realness that he couldn't believe it was anything but. And she'd dropped some wisdom on him as she was wont. Stuff he needed at this very moment. It was surreal.

He shook his head, digesting everything, sapient morsel by sapient morsel.

His phone emitted the tone again.

It was a notification from Facebook about a friend's post. He smiled upon reading it. It was as if today was a day for coincidences.

The post was a proverb. It read: "Keep towards the sunshine and the shadows will fall behind you."