A Gift for Family

“I hope this is worth something, Old Man.”

The words echoed around the room before returning to silence. The old man continued to examine the object, moving slowly. In the poor lighting it was sometimes hard to notice him there, but now he seemed to camouflage with the clutter around him.

The girl stood there waiting. Her eyes saw the man fade as he inspected her latest find. Her balance started to falter and she tried to search for a place to sit. Her vision snapped back, she glanced around the room. She saw chairs, but remembering the time she sat without paying attention. The girl just decided to sit on the floor where she stood.

“I found it in the abandoned apartments south of here.”

The man hummed, seeming to nod. She didn’t expect much, but it was the most she had heard from another living person all day.

“Yea, I found it on some skeleton, it was clutching the thing so it already seemed pretty valuable. I saw the color and it looks like gold. That usually gets a bit extra, right?”

Nothing. The air sat unmoving in the room. The girl shuffled around on the floor to get comfortable.

“I know I’m usually better about these kinds of things, but I was in a hurry to get out of there honestly. The place was sealed off, but getting in was weird. I was in pretty easy and then kind of got forced out quick too.”

She paused, now hearing the sound of the man starting to examine the gold chains attached.

“It’s shaped a bit like an arrowhead, but I know it can’t be that. It’s too big, clunky, and round. Probably too soft too.”

A small metal clicking sound was heard. The man finally responded, “It’s called a locket.”

The room felt just a little warmer after hearing that.

“Oh, so you think I’d get anything extra for it then?” The girl questioned.

The usual silence answered.

“What’s it even for?”

The sound of the man’s clothes shuffling and the clutter scraping on the desk responded. He seemed to be holding the locket for her to look at. Even after sitting there all this time her eyes weren’t adjusted to the dark. She stared at it but could only make out a dulled shine.

“Oh, yea, makes sense.” She quipped.

“So chatty today.” The man finally groaned, “Heart shaped. For keeping near your heart.”

“Okay, but what is it even for though?” she inquired, as the fatigue crept slowly into her voice.

Her words echoed, she couldn’t see if the man was moving again, but she knew for sure he didn’t sound like he was moving. The girl breathed in as if about to sigh, then the old man finally replied, “Mementos, keepsakes, that sort of thing. For keeping people close even when you normally can’t.”

His words bounced off the walls of the room. The girl didn’t respond, as if the words were lost in the clutter and couldn’t find her. He continued, slightly more booming. “You won’t get much for it, some people might even try and rip you off for it. I’ll tell you what, you said you were going to trade this up for medicine?”

The girl smiled, knowing he really had been listening. “Yea, it- ”

“Tell you what, as a favor to you, I’ll trade it at a loss. Take any five things you want from my stock here, then go trade them around until you got what you need. Don’t even worry about paying it back, think of it as a gift.”

“Really?” He saw her beam. “Thank you so much, I’ll be sure to tell aunt-”

“Of course, nothing’s been the same since things fell apart. Family’s all you got these days.”