Wolf under an oak tree.
Chapter 5

I dust the soil off the box and kept it beside me. The humble side of mine kept saying that this box is someone’s belonging and that I shouldn't open it, but the archeological side in me was jumping in excitement waiting to replace what is hidden inside this box.

“Aunty Ilis, what did you replace here?” Beatrice asked in her sweet melancholic voice.

“I found this box when I was digging, but I am not sure as to whether I should open it or not,” I replied and she placed her delicate finger on her cheek making a thinking gesture before taking a seat next to me on the dirt floor.

“Now aunty, we came here to replace ancient achifaut, right?” Beatrice asked me in her somber voice, and I nodded my head barely containing my laughter.

Oh my God! How much I adore this girl, everything that she tells and does is so cute, that I get mesmerized in my own world.

“Hmm, maybe you are right, cupcake. There might be valuable achifaut in here.” I replied and she eagerly nodded her head.

“So let's do something, why don't we both open the box together?”

“That sounds great, aunty Ilis.” and then we both opened it, to replace a gold ring with a clover leaf pattern etched in it and a few other pieces of jewelry too.

“Wow, this is a great replace!” Beatrice was jumping in joy, and I was ecstatic too.

“Can we keep these, aunty?” Beatrice asked me while holding a beautiful butterfly necklace against her neck.

“Sure sweetheart, after all, this box was just waiting to be found, right?” and then I made her wear the necklace around her neck.

“It is so light, aunty.”

“Of course it would be. Now would you like to wear the ring too?” I asked and I took the ring out of the box and held it in my hand for her to take it.

“No aunty, I don't like the way it looks. But, I know this will look great on you.” Beatrice commented, and she took the ring from my hand and slipped it on my left hand, ring finger.

“It indeed is looking great on my hand, cupcake. But, I shouldn't be wearing a ring on my left-hand, cupcake.” I explained and when I tried to remove it, Beatrice pulled my hand away.

“Why shouldn't you wear it on your left hand, aunty Ilis? Mommy always wears her ring on that finger.” She said with a dejected tone.

“Cupcake, the reason is that, I can only wear this ring on my left hand, after I get married to someone.”

“But I have a doubt, why can you only wear a ring on that particular finger after you get married? Why not the other fingers?”

“It's because the ring finger, on the left hand, is the only finger that has a nerve that directly connects to the heart, so it is like a symbol. When you love someone truly, you would always want to keep them close to your heart, and so by wearing a ring given by them on that particular finger, you feel like they are forever close to your heart.” at the end of my sentence my voice cracked, and my eyes started to stink thinking that I will never get to experience the magic of love.

“That is so meaningful, aunty. I want to get married too. But, I also want to be a flower girl at your wedding.” she said with joy-filled in her eyes. And I forced a smile for her sake.

“Of course, you will be my flower girl at my wedding, cupcake,” I said and I hugged her.

And you will always be my little girl too, Beatrice.

After our small victory party, we started digging some more till it was time to go home, and I was thinking of visiting this place again, since there were a lot of artifacts here, and most of them were abandoned camping equipment, but I did replace a few pieces of jewelry along with the one we found earlier.

“Beatrice! Get in the car.” I yelled while loading the backseat with all our equipment and that is when I noticed that the ring that Beatrice slipped on my ring finger is still there, so after I loaded the last piece of equipment, I closed the door and I tried removing the ring.

After a few failed attempts, the ring was still stuck on my finger and it didn't even move an inch.

Great, I knew that the ring was small and I shouldn’t have let Beatrice put it on my finger.

“Aunty Ilis, what are you doing?”

“I am trying to remove this ring, but it is stuck to my finger,” I said while trying so hard to get the ring off my finger.

“Aunty Ilis, stop!” Beatrice yanked my hand away and she examined my finger, the skin around the ring area has turned into an angry red complexion, and I can feel the painful throb from my ring finger.

“Let's go home and ask mommy to help you remove the ring,” she suggested.

“I guess you are right. Let's go home since it's already dark out here.” I said and helped Beatrice into the car and then we were on our way home.

“Mommy, daddy we are home!” Beatrice yelled and dashed inside, leaving the door open.

“Baby! You are home! How was your trip today?” Ada asked while she picked up her daughter.

“We had a lot of fun, mommy. Oh, and can you help Aunty Ilis with her finger?” Beatrice said pointing in my direction, and Ada looked at me with puzzlement.

“What happened to your finger, Iris?” Ada asked me while placing Beatrice back on the ground and walking towards me. Once she was a few inches away from me, I raised my left hand and showed her.

“Oh my God!” Ada gasped in bewilderment and I know what is running around in her head right now, and before I could explain myself she started to blubber.

“Cole! Come downstairs at once, and see what your sister has done!” Ada screamed from the top of her voice.

“Ada listen, it's not what you think it is.” I tried to reason with her but before I could explain myself my brother came downstairs too.

“What happened?” he sounded distressed and he was checking me from head to toe for any injury before it landed on the shiny ring on my finger.

“Iris, you are married! Why didn’t you tell us anything about it?” Cole asked.

“No, I am not married guys. This ring is...”

“I slipped it on aunty Ilis’s finger, daddy. And then the ring got stuck there. We tried to remove it but it is so stubborn.” Beatrice answered for me, and I saw the relief in both the adults’ faces.

“Oh! Thank God you are not married then, because if you would have gotten married without telling mom and dad, I don't know what they would have done.” Cole said and I shook my head at both my overdramatic brother and best friend.

No wonder these two make a great pair.

“Now, would one of you help me remove this?” I asked and Ada quickly nodded her head before directing us to the kitchen.

“This should be easy since I removed plenty of rings from my finger when it gets stuck,” Ada commented.

One and a half-hour later I got up from the kitchen counter and started walking out from the kitchen.

“Iris wait! I think the last method will get the ring off.” Cole said and I shook my head. My entire hand is throbbing and red, and my ring finger is numb.

“No, thank you. I will get this off myself.”

“But this method will work! I just have to cut a tiny piece of your skin off, and then the ring will slip right off.” and I stared at him with horror struck eyes. Was he being serious with me right now, or has my brother gone mad? Whichever it is, I am not going to give my finger to him.

“I am going to sleep guys!” I yelled before going back to my room.