Emily confronts the jeweler

From Create Your Own Story

Jeweler Ending

The end of the work day. The Jeweler is locking up his shop and getting ready to walk home when Emily runs on.

Emily: (Out of Breath) Sir! Sir!

Jeweler: Bonsoir young lady. Are you alright?

Emily: (Still panting) Yes, just a bit out of shape….PHEW! I never should have stopped jazzerciszing.

Jeweler: Please, sit. Catch your breath.

He leads her to a bench a few steps away from his shop door.

Emily: Thank you.

Jeweler: Anything for a lady in need. Was there something you wanted from the shop? You haven’t dropped off any custom order requests have you?

Emily: (Slowly regaining strength and breath) No, no. I was acutally looking for you.

Jeweler: Me? Well then, it’s must be my lucky day.

Emily: I found this bracelet in my uncle’s attic. I’ve been running around this town trying to get answers and everything I’ve found has led me here. What do you know about this bracelet? Please, I need you to tell me.

Jeweler: I never thought I’d ever see this again. I had expected they buried it with her.

Emily: Buried it with who?

Cue monologue music

Jeweler: It was 1940. I was twelve years old, working in this jewelry store, only back then it belonged to my father. It had been a few months since the war had begun and men from all over were shipping out to serve in the name of their country. A local boy named Jim Barnes enlisted during the summer and was set to be deployed well before Christmas. He was a quiet man with only a handful of aquaintences and only one good friend, another local by the name of Lige Skargall.

Emily: My uncle.

Jeweler: He had a little sister, Julie, a few years younger than himself. She had contracted polio as a toddler and was severely paralized. The father had left and the mother didn’t survive the birth of her daughter so Jim spent all of his time caring for her, feeding her, bathing her, making her as comfortable as possible. I’m sure the decision to enlist was not an easy one for Jim, but his navigational skills were sought out by the air force recruiters. He didn’t have the money to put his sister in a facility and without constant care, she would have died. Lige was one of the few outside of the medical profession that knew about Jim’s situation. When Jim enlisted, Lige promised to care for his sister until Jim returned safely. His sister was heartbroekn over the news of her brother leaving, but she didn’t want to hold him back from protecting others the way he had protected her. She wanted desperately to aid in the war effort on the homefront, but her condition wouldn’t allow it. A year later, news came that Jim had been killed in a plane crash on the German front. Julie was destroyed. She slipped into a depression that worsened her condition. That was when Lige showed up at my father’s shop. He comissioned a bracelet, an exact replica of the ID charms that were given to the women enlisted on the homefront. It was one of the first pieces my father allowed me to engrave. Lige gave it to her as a birthday gift as a symbol of her importance in the war effort. Soon, they began putting together care packages for the local families of lost soldiers. This continued until her paralysis spead and she could no longer move her arms on her own. She passed away, and shortly after your uncle enlisted. He was an amazing man, that Lige was. I don’t think I’ll ever meet his equal.

Emily: Thank you. Thank you so much.

They hug. Lights out.