Approx. 1,795 words
©2003 by Mae Ondracek
Sue Ellen strolled
down
“You too, Miss,” he replied as he went about stacking the apples in a crate.
Sue Ellen was a tall brunette with brown eyes and a little heart shaped mouth. John had told her many times that her best feature was her little pug nose. Sue Ellen had said that when her ship came in, if she wasn’t at the airport at the time, she would have a nose job done. John had begged her not to even think about it because he liked her nose just the way it was.
“Sue Ellen. Sue Ellen.” Someone was calling her name. She stopped and looked around but no one had spoken to her. She started walking, when she heard her name called again, “Sue Ellen.”
She looked around and noticed a little shop she had never seen there before. It was so small that Sue Ellen wondered if the door and window had just been painted on the wall of another store. She walked over to the wall and touched the doorknob. It was real. The door slowly opened and a soft voice said, “Come in, Sue Ellen. I have been waiting for you.”
A feeling of dread passed over her but she seemed drawn to enter the little shop. A male voice said, “Welcome to my little antique shop, Miss. Please look around.”
The male voice belonged to a very small man of the Orient. He was four feet, eleven inches tall, with long gray/white hair and a very long mustache that hung almost to his waist. His eyes were small and sparkling. He kept stroking his mustache, first one side and then the other. Sometimes he reached up and stroked both sides of the mustache at the same time. He smiled at Sue Ellen with a twinkle in his eyes as he said, “My name is Ray Ling. You buy something? Yes?”
Sue Ellen returned the smile and said, “I never noticed your shop before. It is very quaint. I will look around.”
“We only recently opened, but there are some very special things here. You’ll see.”
Sue Ellen exclaimed, “These are beautiful vases and out of my price range, I’m sure.”
She heard her name being called softly again, “Sue Ellen, I am waiting for you.”
This time Sue Ellen heard that the voice was coming from the jewelry counter and she approached it with caution. “Come closer, Sue Ellen. You are meant to own me.”
Sue Ellen could not hold her hand back as it reached for the silver amulet. It had writing on it but she had never seen anything like it before. Her hand fairly tingled as she held the amulet.
“Yes, yes, a good choice.” Ray Ling said as he rubbed his hands together, and then stroked his mustache. “I will put this silver chain on it, for you to wear,” and he quickly attached the chain. Motioning for Sue Ellen to bend down, he put the chain around her neck and said, “You will now have so much good luck. Do not be afraid of it. You deserve everything you ask for.”
“But…but, I cannot afford something this special. It must cost thousands of dollars.”
The soft voice said, “You have enough money in your pocket to pay for me. You need me.”
Instinctively her hand went to her jacket pocket and she felt paper. Sue Ellen withdrew her hand, which was full of money. She gasped as Ray Ling said, “You made fine choice,” and he plucked one of the bills out of her hand. “That is enough. Think only of making your marriage strong. Now you must go. He waits for you,” and Ray Ling guided her out the door.
Sue Ellen turned and cried, “Wait Ray Ling. What do these writings mean?”
She gasped in astonishment. She was looking at a blank, brick wall. No doorway, no window, nothing. She reached up and touched the amulet around her neck. It was really there, but where was the shop and Ray Ling? With the amulet around her neck, she knew she hadn’t dreamed this whole thing.
The little soft voice said, “John is waiting for you, Sue Ellen, hurry.”
Sue Ellen jumped, startled by the soft voice coming from the amulet so near her head.
“How come you speak, Amulet?” Sue Ellen asked.
The soft voice answered, “Do not fret. Hurry home. John needs you.”
Sue Ellen ran the three blocks to John’s apartment and pounded on the door, calling out, “John, are you here?”
There was no answer but she knew John was home because his car was parked outside.
She pounded on the door again, and then tried the doorknob. Thank God, it was unlocked. She hurried into the apartment and stifled a scream as she saw John lying on the floor. She knelt beside him and felt for his pulse, it seemed very weak. Sue Ellen dialed 911, begging them to hurry.
As she waited, she unconsciously reached up for the amulet. “Oh, John, You just have to be alright. I need you.”
John stirred and tried to sit up, but Sue Ellen told him to lie still, the paramedics were coming. He reached for the back of his head and winced with pain, and then he lay back down. Sue Ellen let the paramedics in and they examined John, saying they would take him to the hospital for a good check-up. She grabbed John’s car keys and followed the ambulance to the hospital. She raced inside while the doctor examined John and told the nurse to get an MRI set up right away. To Sue Ellen, he said, “Just to make sure there is no damage at the base of the skull. That is a nasty blow to the back of his head. Do you know how he got it?”
Sue Ellen shook her head, “No, I had just gotten to his apartment, found him and called for the ambulance. Will he be alright?”
“I won’t know until after I see the results from the MRI. Please, just wait in the lounge and, as soon as I know anything, I’ll let you know.”
Sue Ellen sat down, fingering the amulet, saying, “Ray Ling said I’d have good luck but this is terrible. I need John. Please let him be alright.”
The amulet seemed to quiver and then lay still in her hand. Soon the doctor came into the lounge, shaking his head as he said, “I don’t understand it. The MRI shows nothing wrong and the big bump on his head is gone. John said he was reaching for something under the table and didn’t back out far enough. He hit his head on the table edge. You may go in to see him.”
“Thank you, Doctor,” Sue Ellen said as she hurried to John’s room.
With tears in her eyes, she rushed to John’s bedside, “Oh, John, are you really alright? Does your head hurt? When can you come home?”
“Whoa! Not so many questions,” John said. “I’ll be just fine. For some reason, my head doesn’t hurt and the bump is gone. The nurse went for my clothes and I can go home right away.”
“Thank God!” Sue Ellen said as her hand flew to her neck and she grabbed the amulet.
“Why, Sue Ellen, Where did you get that necklace?”
“In a little antique shop that really wasn’t there,” she said.
The nurse entered with John’s clothes and both women stood in the hallway while John changed into his street clothes. The nurse said, “That is one for the books. He comes in with a terrible bump on his head and then it’s gone, and the MRI shows nothing. It’s hard to believe.”
“Yes it is,” Sue Ellen said, “but I’m very thankful he’s alright.”
John came into the hall, took Sue Ellen by the arm and said, “Come on Hon, let’s go home.” They both thanked the nurse as they left the hospital.
Once in the car, John said, “Now show me the antique shop that wasn’t there.”
Sue Ellen drove the car as she told John what had happened that morning. She stopped the car in front of Mr. Smythe’s grocery store and Sue Ellen pointed to where the little shop had been. “You wouldn’t be pulling my leg, now, would you?” John asked.
“But, John, it’s true. The amulet kept calling to me and even put money in my pocket so I could buy it.”
She reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out the rest of the money, “See. I never had this much money at one time, in my whole life,” she said.
“Wow! Sue Ellen, is this real money?” John asked as he counted it.
“Why of course! I think so, anyway,” she said.
John whistled softly, “Do you know how much is here?”
“No,” she said, as her hand flew up to clutch the amulet. “I’m afraid to know.”
“How much did we need so we could go on a honeymoon?”
“Three thousand dollars,” she said.
“That’s right,” John replied as he waved the bills in front of her face, “exactly three thousand dollars.”
Sue Ellen said, “Ray Ling said I’d have only good luck and when I turned to ask him what the writing on the amulet said, the shop was gone. Then, while fingering the amulet, I begged that you would be alright, and you were.” Sue Ellen paused and said, “John, do you suppose this amulet is some sort of lucky charm from the past?”
“I would have to agree with that,” John said. “It is still early. Let’s go to the library to see if we can find out anything.”
At the library, they quickly selected a book on Gems and Jewelry of the Orient. About half way through the book, Sue Ellen cried, “There it is!”
She read, aloud, the description that was under the picture, “A two inch diameter silver disc. On one side is the head of St. Orlo, surrounded by olive branches. The front side has strange hieroglyphics that read, ‘For only the pure in heart. You shall have the power to live a want-free life.’ St. Orlo was the patron saint of the hard working people. He did all he could to make their lives easier.”
Sue Ellen and John sat back in their chairs and thought about what she had just read. The amulet softly whispered to her, “Yes, Sue Ellen, you were chosen this century. I will be with you always, until a new person is worthy of me. Live wisely.”