The Diamond Ring (Jessica L., Grade 5

The Mauve Jellyfish “When they get bigger, they can light up with luminescence.” Once again, I started thinking. How could something like this be so beautiful yet dangerous. I longed to see a big one light up, but I wouldn’t want to see them sting anything. After about an hour, the boat returned to normal, except, or course, for the ocean around it. While everybody else was sunbathing or resting, the Mauve jellyfish were holding a party. It was like all the baby Mauve jellyfish in the world were trapped in a big box and suddenly released here in Mallorca. All around there were Mauve, some about the size of my foot, and others hard to see between their tiny size and the sunlight bouncing off them. They seemed so peaceful, just floating around. I felt so peaceful.

The Diamond Ring By Jessica L., Grade 5

It is hot. Like, super hot. Like, so hot popsicles would melt after three minutes of being in the sun. My feet were BURNING in the Hawaiian sand. My legs are also burning. And my head. I was burning. I walked about two feet to the water's edge and - sweet relief was there in the packed sand. ”I’m going in the ocean!” I called to my mom. She answered,”Ok, but don’t go in for too long. Grandma and Grandpa are almost here with lunch.” Entering the cold water sent chills to my spine. Well, the water wasn’t that cold, because it was in the bright sun. But the lukewarm water still felt refreshing on my burning feet. I waded into the water until I was about knee deep. When you got deeper into the water, the water started to get colder. I decided to stay right where I was. My brother Justin, however, wanted to go into the water neck deep. Which, for him, was only about 5 feet from where I was. “Ahh,” he yelled,”It’s so cold in here!” I rolled my eyes. My dad had said that it was cold like, ten minutes ago. Justin never listens. I turned around and sat on the shore. From where I was on the beach, I had a pretty good view of the water. There were more paddle boards than surfers on the beach that day because of how calm the water was. Little waves rolled over my legs. Little pieces of shell shifted around me. With a jolt, I remembered my brother’s challenge for me. My brother had always liked doing beach challenges. The challenge for 2017 had been finding the biggest, most disgusting pile of seaweed. The challenge for 2018 was to find twenty-three pieces of sea glass. Since we hadn’t gone to this specific Hawaiian beach in 2019, or 2020 because of covid, this was a big deal for him. 2021’s beach challenge was to find the most valuable item possible. Of course, there were rules. You can’t pretend to find something when you already have found it, no breaking (or taking) the other person's object. This year, I really wanted to win. Maybe if I found a pretty shell? No, there are plenty of pretty shells. A coral shard or piece? No, that wouldn’t be special enough. Then, I realized that good things are normally found when you least expect it. So, I started looking. I got up from my comfortable sitting position and started to carefully comb the shore for shells. I found white cracked shells, tiny pinkish peach shells, but nothing unusual. Just P.O.S.’s or

plain old shells, as my dad had dubbed it. I thought about what would happen if my brother won. His taunting voice boomed and echoed through my head. I win, you lose, I win, you lose! I shut the ocean’s roar out with my hands. I win, you lose, I win, you lose! The voice kept repeating itself, like a broken record. The taunting started to fade after what felt like an eternity. Then, I realized, what is the worst that could happen if I lose? This thought burned through my mind, and I kept walking. A couple more steps, and I saw something in the wet sand. It glittered in the sand, its shininess almost intense. At first I had thought it was a keychain ring because you can find them washed up almost anywhere. But, it was smaller than all of the keychains I had ever seen. It was the wrong size. Sinking my nails into the sand, I dug around the mysterious ring and pulled it out. It wasn’t the type of ring that was on a keychain. It had a shiny, silver/clear gem on top of it. My heart pounded as I eyed the diamond studs on the sides of the ring. Although the ring had been slightly rusted from its time in the water, it still glowed. Two options surfaced in my brain; The first being to give up the ring to my mom because she would know what to do, or not show anyone. But, being the person that wanted to tell everyone about it( and possibly brag about it), also knowing that my parents would find out eventually, I made the choice to give it up. As I raced up the sandy slope, I imagined winning the challenge. The good glory of beating my brother. His I’m-really-upset-but-I’m-not-going-to-cry-about-it look. I pictured my dad getting me a dole whip for the victory. All I had to do was make the right choice. I skidded to a stop near my mom. She was reading a book. When I sprayed her with sand, she looked at me like I was a vicious animal. “Jessica, what have I told you about-,” she became wordless when I held up the ring. “Did you find that?” my mom spoke delicately, as if saying the wrong words would have a punishment. I steadily answered back, “Yes, I found it on the beach. Should we take it to the lifeguard?” I regretted the words that came out because I already knew the answer. Even though my mom knew that I knew what she was going to say, she said it anyway. “Yes, we definitely should. Go tell your dad to take it to the lifeguard. The tower is a little far, and I don’t want you to have trouble coming back.” About five minutes later. In the end my dad had told me that the lifeguard had said she would keep the ring safe so that if anyone came looking for it, they might find it. When I told my brother about the ring, he didn’t believe me. When my mom told him, he still didn’t believe me. He finally believed us when my dad told him. At first, he looked like he wanted to scream. Or cry. But, he didn’t. He just said,”I’ll beat you next year. Better watch out.” He stalked away to the water. I watched him go for a little bit. Then I ran after him, saying that our dad would buy us both dole whip.