THE CHARM
In a small town  there was a family of three named the Depasse. John Depasse was a shopkeeper of the town store that was left for him when his father passed away earlier in the year. He had worked in the shop growing up as a young boy. His wife Gail was a piano teacher and taught young people in the family home so she could spend more time with their only child Jess. Jess was sweet and  yet  a quite child. She would often play by herself during playtime at school. Jess was shy, but once she opened up she was a delightful child who liked to draw and write stories.


When Jess turned ten, as a birthday gift, her Mother gave her a charm that she received on her tenth birthday. It was a charm of a flower. It was  color of gold with specks of yellow and pink. Jess was a bit disappointed because she was hoping for a bike. She looked at her mother and said "Oh thank you mother its beautiful." Jess took the charm and put it on her bare bracelet."That  charm is very special. You take good care of it." says Gail. Sadly, a few days later Gail passed away in her sleep. She had never been sick a day in her life. Jess and her father were in shock and sad. Jess one night looked up at the night sky and with her tears in her eyes and said, "I"ll always love you".

About a few months later Gail's sister Loy came for a visit to see how the he and Jess were doing since her death. "We're doing ok. One day at a time." says John. "It must be hard rising a young girl without her mother. If you like I could move to town and help out." says Loy. "That would be nice." says John. Jess didn't know much about her aunt Loy. Loy was the black sheep of the family.She was a widow twice. She liked to have the finer things in life. Nice clothes, jewelry, and homes. She didn't have any children. The rumor was that she disliked children so much she would pass out castor oil for Halloween. Gail didn't talk much about  her sister because they didn't always get along. Loy was jealous about Gail receiving the charm. Loy felt the charm should  go to her because she was the oldest.  But their mother had good reason as to why Gail got the charm.

After a few months passed Jess noticed that a garden had grown in the back yard. There were yellow and pink roses. Most of the roses grew under the window of Jess's bedroom. Jess asked her father "When did you plant flower seeds father." "I didn't ."her father said. Jess thought maybe her aunt Loy may have planted the flowers during a visit but Jess knew that "act of kindness would be out of character for her. Loy would come by and check on them ,but she really didn't help much. She had bought her maid with her to do the cooking and cleaning. Jess had come home from school once and Loy was looking for something in a box marked Gail. The box had all of Gail's personal items. Jess surprised her saying "What are you looking for?" Loy said, "Your mother had this charm when we  were little ,but I can't find it. It was a flower charm." When Loy turned around to face Jess she noticed the charm on her bracelet. "My charm!" shouted Loy. Jess took two steps back and said, "Mother gave the charm to me for my birthday." Loy lunged at Jess as if to grab her, but she managed to get away . Jess ran out of the house and passed the garden of flowers with Loy right behind her. Jess tripped and fell. As Loy reached down  to grab the bracelet, a shadow emerged from the garden and spoke, " The charm  was given to me to one day give to my daughter." Loy stood back in disbelief .She the voice of the shadow was that of her sister Gail. Loy  and Jess were both speechless. Loy ran away  and left to return to her home outside of town. The shadow disappeared back into the soil of the garden. Jess tried to get the shadow to return,but it didn't.

Later that day Loy's maid came by the house, after staying behind to gather Loy's things, to say goodbye.  Jess asked the maid about why aunt Loy wanted the charm so bad. " Loy thought the charm was worth money." says the maid  "However, the charm isn't worth much. Your grandmother  found the charm in the rose garden by her bedroom window when her mother died." Jess asked the maid if her grandmother planted the garden. "No, said the maid , according to your aunt the roses just appeared out of nowhere." The maid turned around a gave Jess a wink