The Emerald Pendant by Olivia Salter | Short Story

 

The Emerald Pendant

By Olivia Salter

Word Count: 2,253

The Seattle skyline pierced the gray sky, its iconic Space Needle barely visible through the thick mist that clung to the city like a second skin. In a modest brick house in Ballard, the Reeves family huddled around their kitchen table, the warm glow of the soft light bulbs creating a cozy atmosphere that misrepresented the tension in the air.

Emma Reeves, her curly hair pulled back in a messy bun, tapped away at her laptop, forehead wrinkled in concentration. "Another rejection," she sighed, closing the lid with more force than necessary. "I don't understand. My app idea is solid. It could revolutionize the way people navigate Seattle's public transit."

Her husband, Oliver, reached across the table to squeeze her hand. His fingers, calloused from years of work as a carpenter, were rough against her skin. "Don't give up, honey. The right investor will see its potential."

Their daughter, Olivia, a high school senior with bright blue hair and an ever-present sketchbook, looked up from her drawing. "Mom, your app is amazing. Those tech bros don't know what they're missing."

Emma managed a small smile, but the weight of mounting bills and dwindling savings pressed heavily on her shoulders. The tech boom had transformed Seattle, driving up costs and leaving many long-time residents struggling to keep up. The Reeves were no exception.

A knock at the door startled them all. Oliver rose to answer it, returning moments later with a woman Emma hadn't seen in years.

"Aunt Vivian?" Emma said, surprise evident in her voice. "What are you doing here?"

Vivian Jones, Oliver's aunt, stood in the doorway, looking every bit the eccentric artist she'd always been. Her silver hair was styled in an futuristic cut, and her clothes were a riot of colors and patterns. But it was the object in her hands that drew everyone's attention – a small, detailed carved wooden box.

"I came to give you this," Vivian said, her voice carrying a hint of an accent from her childhood in Hong Kong. She placed the box on the table with a serious that seemed at odds with her vibrant appearance.

Emma opened the box carefully. Inside, nestled on a bed of red silk, was what appeared to be a jade pendant in the shape of a coiled dragon.

"It's beautiful," Emma breathed, reaching out to touch it.

Vivian's hand shot out, grabbing Emma's wrist. "Be careful," she warned. "This is no ordinary trinket. It's said to grant wishes, but at a terrible cost."

Oliver scoffed. "Aunt Viv, you can't be serious."

But Vivian's expression remained grave. "I acquired it years ago, in a little shop in the International District. The old woman who sold it to me... her eyes haunt me still. She said the dragon would grant three wishes, but each would come with a price that grew steeper with each use."

Olivia leaned in, fascinated. "Have you ever used it, Aunt Vivian?"

A shadow passed over Vivian's face. "Once," she whispered. "Only once. And I've regretted it ever since." She shook her head, as if dispelling a dark memory. "I thought about destroying it, but something always held me back. Now, I'm leaving Seattle – heading to an artist retreat in New Mexico. I can't take this with me, but I couldn't bear to leave it behind either."

Emma studied the pendant, its jade surface cool and smooth beneath her fingers. Despite her usual realism attitude, she felt drawn to it, as if the dragon's tiny emerald eyes were peering into her very soul.

"I don't believe in magic," Emma said slowly, "but we could certainly use some luck right now." She looked up at Vivian. "Are you sure you want to leave this with us?"

Vivian nodded solemnly. "Just promise me you'll be careful. Some wishes are better left unmade."

After Vivian left, the family sat in silence, the jade dragon sitting harmless on the table. Finally, Oliver broke the tension with a nervous laugh.

"Well, if we're going to test out a magical wishing dragon, we might as well start small, right? How about... $5000? Enough to catch up on bills and give us a little breathing room, but not so much as to raise any eyebrows."

Emma hesitated, then picked up the pendant. It felt heavier than it should, as if weighted with unseen consequences. "Alright," she said, her voice barely above a whisper. "I wish for five thousand dollars."

For a moment, nothing happened. Then, a gust of wind rattled the windows, and the lights flickered giving the impression that something bad or unpleasant was going to happen. The pendant grew hot in Emma's hand, and she dropped it with a gasp.

"Mom? Dad?" Olivia's voice was small and frightened.

Oliver wrapped an arm around his daughter. "It's okay, sweetie. It was just the wind. Nothing to be afraid of."

But as they went to bed that night, none of them could shake the feeling that something had changed, that forces beyond their understanding had been set in motion.

The next day dawned gray and misty, typical Seattle weather. Emma was in the kitchen, absently scrolling through job listings on her phone, when it buzzed with a notification. Her eyes widened as she read the email.

"Oliver!" she called out, her voice a mix of excitement and disbelief. "You won't believe this. Remember that coding competition I entered months ago? The one sponsored by that big tech company? I just got an email. I won second place... and a $5000 prize!"

Oliver rushed into the kitchen, his face breaking into a grin. "That's amazing, Em! I knew your hard work would pay off."

As the initial excitement wore off, an uneasy doubt crept into Emma's mind. The timing was too perfect, too coincidental. She glanced at the jade dragon, still sitting on the kitchen table. Its emerald eyes seemed to glint in the morning light, as if sharing a secret joke.

"It's just a coincidence," Emma muttered to herself. "It has to be."

But even as she said it, she couldn't quite convince herself. The jade dragon sat silent and still, its coiled form holding the promise of two more wishes – and the unspoken threat of what prices those wishes might demand.

As the days passed, the Reeves family's initial elation over the unexpected windfall began to fade. The $5000 did indeed provide some much-needed breathing room, allowing them to catch up on bills and even splurge on a nice dinner out. But an undercurrent of unease lingered, especially for Emma.

She found herself unable to shake the feeling that their good fortune had come at a cost, though she couldn't pinpoint exactly what that cost might be. The jade dragon sat on a high shelf in their living room, its presence a constant reminder of the power they had tapped into.

One rainy afternoon, as Emma was walking home from the bus stop, her phone buzzed with a call from an unknown number. Hesitantly, she answered.

"Mrs. Reeves?" a crisp voice asked. "This is Sandra Liu from Emerald Tech Innovations. We were impressed by your transit app concept in the recent competition. We'd like to invite you for an interview to discuss potential development opportunities."

Emma's heart raced. Emerald Tech was one of Seattle's fastest-growing startups. This could be the break she'd been waiting for. As she hung up, her eyes drifted to the Space Needle, barely visible through the misty rain. For a moment, she allowed herself to imagine her app's logo displayed proudly on its observation deck.

At home, Emma shared the news with Oliver and Olivia. Their excitement was noticeable, but as they celebrated, Olivia's phone chimed with a news alert.

"Oh no," Olivia said, her face falling. "There's been a huge accident on the 520 bridge. A bus... it went off the edge into Lake Washington."

The family gathered around Olivia's phone, reading the horrifying details. No fatalities had been reported yet, but several people were critically injured. As they scrolled through eyewitness accounts, Emma felt a chill run down her spine.

"That's... that's the bus I usually take," she whispered. "If I hadn't gotten that call and stayed late at the coffee shop to calm my nerves, I would have been on it."

The realization hung heavy in the air. Oliver pulled Emma close, his face pale. "It's just a coincidence," he said, but his voice lacked conviction.

That night, Emma tossed and turned, unable to sleep. The jade dragon seemed to call to her from the other room. Finally, she got up and crept to the living room.

In the pale moonlight filtering through the windows, the dragon's emerald eyes seemed to glow. Emma picked it up, its weight familiar in her hand.

"Was it you?" she whispered. "Did you cause that accident to get me that interview?"

The dragon, of course, remained silent. But as Emma stared at it, she couldn't shake the feeling that it was somehow alive, listening, waiting.

The next few weeks were a whirlwind. Emma threw herself into preparations for her interview, trying to push thoughts of the dragon and its possible influence out of her mind. Olivia, inspired by recent events, started a school project on transit safety. Oliver took on extra carpentry jobs, determined to build up their savings in case Emma's app took off and she needed startup capital.

The day of the interview arrived. Emma stood before the mirror, adjusting her blazer and taking deep breaths to calm her nerves. The jade dragon caught her eye from its shelf. 

"I don't need you," she muttered. "I can do this on my own."

But as she reached for the door, a moment of doubt gripped her. What if she froze up? What if they hated her idea? Everything was riding on this opportunity. Before she could talk herself out of it, she grabbed the dragon.

"I wish for my interview to go perfectly," she whispered.

The pendant grew warm in her hand, and for a split second, Emma could have sworn she saw the dragon's tiny claws flex. 

The interview started off brilliantly. Emma's responses were articulate and confident, her passion for her project evident. The panel seemed genuinely impressed. But as she was mid-sentence, explaining a key feature of her app, a commotion erupted in the hallway.

"Fire!" someone shouted. "Everyone out, now!"

Alarms blared as smoke began to seep under the door. In the chaos of the evacuation, Emma found herself separated from the interview panel. Outside, as fire trucks wailed in the distance, she watched in horror as flames engulfed the upper floors of the building.

"Are you alright?" A voice beside her made her jump. It was Sandra Liu, the woman who had called her about the interview.

Emma nodded, still in shock. "I'm fine, but... the interview..."

Sandra's eyes widened in recognition. "Mrs. Reeves! Your interview – it was going amazingly. In fact," she glanced at the burning building, then back at Emma with a determined look, "consider this your official offer. We'd be fools to let talent like yours slip away, especially after you handled this situation so calmly."

As Emma stammered her thanks, she felt the weight of the dragon in her pocket. A chill ran down her spine as she realized the true cost of her "perfect" interview.

That night, as fire crews still worked to fully extinguish the blaze, the Reeves family sat in somber silence around their kitchen table. The jade dragon sat in the center, its presence oppressive.

"We have to get rid of it," Oliver said, breaking the silence. "This is too dangerous."

Emma nodded, her face drawn. "But how? Aunt Vivian said she tried to destroy it..."

Olivia, who had been uncharacteristically quiet, spoke up. "What if... what if we used the last wish to undo everything? To wish that we'd never made any wishes at all?"

The adults exchanged glances. It seemed too simple, too easy. But as they looked at the dragon, its emerald eyes glinting in the low light, they knew they had to try.

With trembling hands, Emma picked up the pendant one last time. "I wish," she said, her voice barely above a whisper, "that we had never made any wishes on this dragon."

The room seemed to spin, colors blurring and reality shifting. When everything settled, the Reeves family found themselves back at their kitchen table, Aunt Vivian standing before them with the wooden box in her hands.

"I came to give you this," Vivian was saying, "but... no. I can't. I'm sorry, I made a mistake." She snapped the box shut, clutching it to her chest. "Some things are better left alone."

As Vivian hurried out, Emma felt a weight lift from her shoulders. She looked at Oliver and Olivia, saw the same mix of relief and confusion on their faces.

"What just happened?" Olivia asked.

Emma shook her head, memories already fading like a half-forgotten dream. "I'm not sure, but I think... I think we just dodged a bullet."

Oliver reached across the table, taking Emma's hand in his. "Whatever it was, we're okay. We're together. And we'll face whatever comes next as a family."

As they sat there, the Seattle mist outside began to clear, revealing a sky full of stars. In that moment, Emma realized that the real magic wasn't in wishes or jade dragons, but in the love and resilience of her family. And that, she knew, was worth more than any wish could ever grant.