The Hope Keeper
Evalyn flaunts my beauty for I am cherished.
She wears me every day, and at night, guards protect me while I wait in a cold metal box, locked away until the sun rises and the day begins again.
She claims she does not believe my story, but misfortunes surround her until she loses not one but two children.
She, too, loses a husband. Like the keepers before her, she is frivolous, values little, and her estate declines until there is little left.
Her days flow away quickly, and when illness prevails, Evalyn is gone.
I am quickly seized again, kept locked away until one day I am retrieved and put on display before a crowd.
I dazzle them into reverent silence.
A man with a gavel announces my worth and sings a song of prices, but there is only one man who may keep me, for a time, like the others. I am awarded to Harry Winston, and Evalyn’s debts are paid.
I tour the world with other gems of note, enchanting all who look upon my beauty. Mr. Winston tempts collectors and princes and the world’s most revered to add me to their collection, but no one can afford me, and no one can afford the hidden cost I carry. My reputation, my story.
At last, I am sent to a grand building with a dome roof, its halls graced with natural wonders.
And it is here where I reside, in the Hall of Gems, where anyone may delight in my beauty.
But not all are pleased. Soon, letters pour in from all over the country, beseeching the Smithsonian Institution to release me, to sell me to a new keeper.
For they do not want their country cursed or misfortune to befall anyone who gazes upon me.
Yet their pleas go unanswered, and for now, I remain.
I bide my time among the most unique stones in the world, and I wait. I wait for what comes next.
Perhaps you will see me, winking from my perch as I rotate beneath a bright white light, my facets glittering, capturing your imagination. But beware. Legends are a mix of lies and truths, and I am legendary. I may carry the darkness they claim. I may not.
Only you can decide.