Sam and I walked along the main street, the small buildings giving us a break from the sun. Through the window of the candy shop I could see tubes of colorful jelly beans. A sign on the window's glass read LOST: Gold and blue necklace. Verry special. If found, call Chrissy at 555-9924.
Chrissy had drawn a crayon version of the necklace at the bottom of the poster and a border made of orange exclamation points.
The necklace looked different from the one I clutched (紧握) in my pocket, I decided. Rounder, bluer. The poster appeared old and weathered. It must have been put up months ago.
"Hey," Sam asked, "are you coming with me?"
We continued to walk, and I noticed four more posters. Someone must have returned that necklace by now, I thought.
Once home, I placed the necklace into my old yellow retainer box. I'd cleaned it out and made it my special place for special things. So far, it held twin miniature seashells, a pebble that looked exactly like a bird's egg, and 11 half-burnt birthday candles.
I looked at the stone, so clean and polished. Could it be Chrissy's? Was it her "very special" necklace?
"Uncle Coop," I called, "would you take me to the store?"
We went into town together and stopped at Luann's. Uncle Coop let me borrow his cell phone to call the number on the poster.
"Hello?" said a girl's voice after one ring.
"Hi," I said, ▲ . "Is this Chrissy?"
"Yes. "
"Um, my name is Ryan. I think I may have something that belongs to you. "
"My necklace?"
Fifteen minutes later, I was sitting at a table across from Chrissy. We were drinking milkshakes and sharing an order of sweet-potato fries while Uncle Coop and Chrissy's dad drank coffee at the counter.
"It was a gift from my mom," she said, "before she got sick. "
Chrissy looked down at the blue stone in her hand.
"I'm really sorry," I said. "Holding on to it somehow makes things a little better," she said. "Do you know what I mean?"
I thought about the mean kids at school and how holding on to beautiful things often made me feel better.
I nodded. "I think I do. "
