• Thomas Black stood in the shadow of a building near the city center. It was a ring shop that had attracted him to it like a moth to a flame.
    He looked through the window at the front of the shop. On a pedastal inside was a golden ring, devoid of any jewels or markings. Thomas couldn't keep his eyes off it. this was why he was at the store. He entered the store in hopes of examining the golden band on the pedestal. A bell rang as the door was opened.
    "Aye, jest a second!" called a voice from a back room. "Ah'll be right with ye." An old man stepped out from the back room. He had grayed hair, but still had a lot of it, mostly on his chin. He looked to be an old sailor, except that the city of Raan was landlocked, without even a lake within 5 miles from the city.
    "How can I help ye?" inquired the false sailor.
    "Yeah, mister. . ." Thomas waited for a name.
    "Call me Ishmael," said the old man. Thomas immediately thought of an old book he had once read. It was about a ship and a white whale, but Ishmael interrupted the boy's thoughts with a cough.
    "Right," Thomas mumbled. "So, how much for that ring?" He indicated the ring sitting alone on it's throne.
    "That ring not be fer sale," replied the sailor. Black dipped his head in dissapointment. "However," Ishmael continued, "if ye kin move it from the stand, it be yers."
    That's all? Thomas thought as he reached for the ring. This will be easy!
    "But Ah'll warn ye," chirped Ishmael, "That ring be immovable. Not even Sebastian Brig could budge it! Ye'll not move it an inch, I'll bet."
    Black noted the statement, and continued. He wrapped his fingers around the ring and yanked as hard as he could. It seemed as though small flames licked at Thomas's fingers, and he released the ring as a reaction to the heat. The circle of gold hadn't moved. Not even the dust around it had budged! Thomas was dumbstruck. How can something this small be so heavy?! He exclaimed in his mind. It was stuck fast to its lonely throne.
    "I told ye," Ishmael told his confused customer, "that thar ring can't be moved! But is there anythin' else I can help ye with?"
    "Yeah," Replied the young man with burns on his hands, "Do you have a place I could stay for the night?"

    To be continued. . .