“I don’t know yet. Stay back while I drain it.”
Ezoic
I let the water drain properly—no sense flooding the apartment on top of everything else—then reached inside the drum carefully, feeling around the bottom and sides.
My fingers hit something small and smooth and definitely not supposed to be there.
I pinched it carefully and pulled it out, water dripping off my hand.
Ezoic
It was a ring.
A gold ring. One diamond set in the center, small but clear. The band was worn thin in places, the gold scratched and dulled from years—decades, probably—of being worn.
“Treasure,” Nora whispered, coming fully into the room now.
“It’s pretty,” Hazel said, standing on tiptoes to see.
Ezoic
“Is it real?” Milo asked, his pessimism momentarily overcome by the possibility of actual treasure.
“Feels real,” I said, turning it over in my palm.
That’s when I noticed the engraving inside the band. Tiny letters, almost rubbed away by time and wear, but still legible if I held it up to the light:
To Claire, with love. Always. – L
Ezoic
I read it out loud without thinking.
“Always?” Milo asked. “Like, forever?”
“Yeah,” I said quietly, something tightening in my chest. “Exactly like forever.”
I stood there in my cramped laundry nook, water still dripping from the washing machine, holding someone else’s wedding ring while my three kids crowded around me.
And I’d be lying—absolutely lying—if I said my brain didn’t immediately go one ugly, desperate place.
Ezoic
Pawn shop.
I could picture it clearly: walking into one of those places on Pacific Avenue with their neon signs and barred windows. Putting this ring on the counter. Walking out with cash. Not a fortune, probably, but enough. Enough to buy groceries without checking my bank balance first. Enough to get the kids shoes that didn’t have holes. Enough to pay the electric bill on time instead of waiting for the disconnect notice.
