1.He holds the ring up to her, its crown shining in her face like the bright rays of the sun. She looks down on him, staring into his hopeful eyes as he is perched on one knee. In the face of the diamond she sees her entire future illuminated in white. A white gown, a country house surrounded by a white picket fence, the white of her baby’s eyes, and the faded white color her hair will one day turn to. This is it. Her future, all held in this one ring, and the question it holds.
2. She places the ring on her index finger, and there it remains until her wedding day. People see the ring and stare, wondering about the story behind it and the man who made it all possible. What is it that makes this ring so different from the others? The answer lies in the square cut diamond resting on the silver band, with the dimensions so precise the area is almost measurable. It stands out from other diamonds, a special one which had been waiting in the earth like a caterpillar, eager to be extracted and turned into a butterfly. The surface is a pond to dive into, holding an entire species of life within. The words “I do” are caught like a secret between one’s lips, the faceted areas beholding her dreams and what is to come of this new life.
3.The diamond’s allure begins to fade, being replaced by a new rock holding an even deeper meaning this time, the promise of “forever”. The sun has outshone the moon and night is over. This diamond has lost its appeal to the woman. The jeweler sets to work on the mineral, hoping to recapture the beauty of moonshine and let it illuminate someone else’s life. The jeweler takes his hammer to the diamond, breaking up the rock until it is scattered into a million pieces, the now-married woman’s dreams laid out on the table for the world to see. The jeweler collects each separate dream, and the diamond undergoes its metamorphosis once again, having changed from its mineral existence in the earth to a beautiful diamond ring and now to a new piece of jewelry, reassembled to be even more beautiful than before. The area of the mineral is reduced to that of two small studs, and it soon re-enters the world as a pair of earrings.
4.The same man who had taken the soliciting diamond as a ring and used it to lure the love of his life into marrying him now feels like he is repeating history. Just as before he wraps up the reassembled diamond jewelry in a red velvet box, although it holds a different meaning this time than when he first purchased it. As he looks down into his daughter’s eyes, he sees the same white sclera his wife had seen sixteen years earlier in the crystalline surface of the ring as she had envisioned her future in the face of the diamond. As he passes the diamond along to the next generation he hopes it can hold as much meaning for her as it did for his wife, exhibiting the beauty of the world and possibilities of the future. Beneath the shining surface she sees her entire life, once again illuminated in white.
5.I watch my reflection in the mirror as I put the earrings on, admiring the way the diamonds sparkle as if they hold a thousand suns and nothing can outshine them. I can feel the secrets held between the faceted edges of the diamond and know the dream my mother once felt has been passed on to me. As I stare into the depth of the diamond earrings I not only see my future, but also the past and how my life came to be. To the people who walk by and stare at the earrings they are just seeing another set of diamonds. Yet those who stop and wonder about the story behind them, just as they did when my mother wore the diamond as a ring, have no idea of the journey taken by these diamonds, and the metamorphosis they withstood. The diamonds shine on. She places the ring on her index finger, and there it remains until her wedding day. People see the ring and stare, wondering about the story behind it and the man who made it all possible. What is it that makes this ring so different from the others? The answer lies in the square cut diamond resting on the silver band, with the dimensions so precise the area is almost measurable. It stands out from other diamonds, a special one which had been waiting in the earth like a caterpillar, eager to be extracted and turned into a butterfly. The surface is a pond to dive into, holding an entire species of life within. The words “I do” are caught like a secret between one’s lips, the faceted areas beholding her dreams and what is to come of this new life.
The diamond’s allure begins to fade, being replaced by a new rock holding an even deeper meaning this time, the promise of “forever”. The sun has outshone the moon and night is over. This diamond has lost its appeal to the woman. The jeweler sets to work on the mineral, hoping to recapture the beauty of moonshine and let it illuminate someone else’s life. The jeweler takes his hammer to the diamond, breaking up the rock until it is scattered into a million pieces, the now-married woman’s dreams laid out on the table for the world to see. The jeweler collects each separate dream, and the diamond undergoes its metamorphosis once again, having changed from its mineral existence in the earth to a beautiful diamond ring and now to a new piece of jewelry, reassembled to be even more beautiful than before. The area of the mineral is reduced to that of two small studs, and it soon re-enters the world as a pair of earrings.
The same man who had taken the soliciting diamond as a ring and used it to lure the love of his life into marrying him now feels like he is repeating history. Just as before he wraps up the reassembled diamond jewelry in a red velvet box, although it holds a different meaning this time than when he first purchased it. As he looks down into his daughter’s eyes, he sees the same white sclera his wife had seen sixteen years earlier in the crystalline surface of the ring as she had envisioned her future in the face of the diamond. As he passes the diamond along to the next generation he hopes it can hold as much meaning for her as it did for his wife, exhibiting the beauty of the world and possibilities of the future. Beneath the shining surface she sees her entire life, once again illuminated in white.
I watch my reflection in the mirror as I put the earrings on, admiring the way the diamonds sparkle as if they hold a thousand suns and nothing can outshine them. I can feel the secrets held between the faceted edges of the diamond and know the dream my mother once felt has been passed on to me. As I stare into the depth of the diamond earrings I not only see my future, but also the past and how my life came to be. To the people who walk by and stare at the earrings they are just seeing another set of diamonds. Yet those who stop and wonder about the story behind them, just as they did when my mother wore the diamond as a ring, have no idea of the journey taken by these diamonds, and the metamorphosis they withstood. The diamonds shine on.