The Topaz Earring

Once upon a time, there lived a young woman who was clever and beautiful. She laughed with her friends, delighted in music, and never told a lie. One summer’s day, while playing by the river, she spied an earring: Round cut topaz set in fine golden petals, glittering in the shallow water.

Lifting it up, she held it to her ear over a calm pool that showed her reflection. “Better not to wear me,” the earring sighed in the gentle breeze. But in the water, its reflection sparkled, complementing her pretty face. Hesitating, she put on. The earring never repeated the warning.

On the road home, the young woman stopped to pick blackberries. “Better to pick under yon tall oak,” the earring tinkled as she moved. Curious, the woman walked further along, and in the shade of a mighty tree, she found the sweetest blackberries she had ever tasted.

That summer, the earring whispered to her many times. When she acted on its judgement, she never regretted the outcome. “Better to go into town today,” it murmured on the day she met her love. “Better to stay in,” it hissed the day strange men were seen down by the river.

The earring helped her win at games with advice that substituted for skill and luck. Sometimes, when she was at a loss, the earring offered words for her to speak. These won friendships, ended old arguments, and advanced her status greatly, though the young woman did not always understand how.

Years passed, and the earring, always worn, was indeed, never wrong. The woman grew handsome in age, and to her friends and family, very wise. Her life was rich, comfortable, and successful beyond her wildest dreams. But dreams she no longer remembered, if she still dreamt.

As a very old woman, she thought back on the life she had lived. Music did not move her these days, and sweetness was all she could taste or remember. But she had never told a lie, for the earring was never wrong, and she trusted it always. “Better not to wear me,” it had once whispered to her.