Changes

Changes (Prologue)


She was thirteen.

Fuming, she left her parent’s side, sneaking away from the store they were browsing in.

Just like all the other stores, looking, fondling, but never buying. Just browsing, her mother always said. Cassi just felt like she was being teased, and she was hating every minute of it. So, with her mother distracted once more by shiny new appliances they’d never have, Cassi stepped back and strolled out of the store.

She wandered back and forth, meandering through the center of the mall’s corridor. She didn’t really know where she wanted to go, if anywhere at all. So she just went.
It wasn’t the sparkling jewelry that drew her to that store that day. Nor was it the sheer price of nearly every object within it. It wasn’t even an attempt to hide from her parents (not that they were even looking for her, she sighed to herself). To be honest, she couldn’t put her finger on what made her walk into that jewelry store. But there she was, standing in front of a glass case with only one item in it.

Cassi stared at it. Merely an inch tall, perhaps two wide, it wasn’t even a particularly special looking gem. It sparkled, don’t be foolish and think otherwise…it caught the light just like any other gem she’d seen before. But it wasn’t a richer color than any other gem in the store. It wasn’t any shinier than any other diamond. In fact, the only thing that seemed to make this gem special was it’s slightly odd shape.

As Cassi continued to look at this odd gem, she wondered what exactly she was doing in the store. Peeling her eyes from the gem, she wandered down the wall, glancing in each case at the items within. Bracelet after bracelet, necklace after necklace, ring after ring.

They all looked the same to her…overpriced pieces of metal and stone. Honestly, she couldn’t think of why anyone would spend that much money on something as pointless as this.

She stopped in front of a display with open rings. Staring at one in particular, she envisioned how it would look on her hand. Seeing noone nearby, she picked it up off the holder and placed it on her finger, and twisted her hand, watching it shine on the finger.
It wasn’t much, just a simple rock on a metal band. She didn’t bother to look at the tag, knowing it was probably far into triple digits.

Suddenly, a thought overtook her. She could have it, if she wanted. Why couldn’t she? She took another look around, and again saw noone near her. The only other people in the store were an elderly looking couple viewing some necklaces, and store assistant helping them, and a burly looking man standing near the door, gazing at the counter and the stuff on them.

Slipping the ring off, she made a motion as though she were returning it to it’s proper place on the rack, and instead, palmed it while picking up another ring. She mocked admiring it, then replaced it. Dropping her hands to her side, she strolled back up the isle, again mocking a admirer’s gaze on the pricey jewelry as she slowly headed towards the door. A twist to look at a counter on her right provided a way to block the other patron’s view of her hand, which deftly slipped the ring into her pocket and dropped back down to her side, an action which took a mere second and resulted in no more than two inches of movement.

Turning her gaze again to the carpet as she made her way to the door, she was about to step outside when a big, hairy arm grabbed hers. A voice, like a cross between tires on gravel and the snobbish air of a Victorian nobleman, filled her ear. “And just where do you think you’re going, missy?”

Cassi looked over her shoulder at the man with a hold on her arm. The burly man that had been watching the counter was now the man who had the vice-like grip on her bicep.

Meekly, all she could manage to say was “W..wh…what do you me..mean?”

As the burly man smiled, revealing a row of nearly perfect teeth with gaps where it seemed a tooth or two was missing, she suddenly found herself wishing that the ring in her pocket, just five seconds earlier a great idea, was no longer there.

No, not no longer there. That it was lint. No, candy. No, change! A half-dollar coin or something, anything but that ring!

“I mean, young lady, what do you think you’re doing with the store’s property, leaving without paying for it?” He crossed his bulging arms, and Cassi could swear his muscles got larger right in front of her eyes.

“Buh…but, I don’t ha-have anything!” She stammered. Cassi’s mind raced ahead of her, trying to think of what she could say, or do, but all she could focus on was how much trouble she was going to be in, and how much she just wished that ring would melt, and become something else…

“Uh huh.” The man uncrossed his arms, and with a smirk, said “Then let’s see what you’ve got in that pocket, there.” His right hand pointed accusingly at the pocket in which the ring currently was burning a hole.

Her hand shaking, Cassi couldn’t think of anything that she could do but what he commanded, so she reached into the pocket and pulled out it’s entire contents, nothing but the ring and the lining of the pocket itself. Unable to bear anything, she closed her eyes and waited for the man’s next brutal comment.

However, all she heard was a gasp, which was shortly followed by the man patting her pocket down, then her opposite pocket, and ever more frantically, the rest of her.

Confused, Cassi opened her eyes, wondering why he’d not taken the ring back and called security, or the police, or her parents. Her eyes watched as the man, becoming red with anger (or was it embarrassment?) searched her over for the ring. When one of his hurried glances allowed her a view of his eyes, she could swear they were literally on fire- something, red and aflame…but, then his head turned, and he said, nearly shouting, ‘Where is it? Damn it, you little thief, where is that ring, I know I saw you take it!”

Not understanding, she finally looked down at her hand, and couldn’t do anything else-her gaze was focused on the sole item occupying her open palm, next to the reversed pocket… a piece of candy. A lifesaver.