xyzT.

“It’s beautiful…,” he said.

With its glow, the diamond-like bluish jewel amazed the old man, as it glittered in the sunlight. It managed in fixating the old man’s eyes, as it did a few times long ago.

Still fixated on the jewel, he crossed the road.

Crashing noise echoed through the neighborhood, the old man slammed the ground hard. Cracking of the bones reverberated through his body as life slowly seeped away from him. The precious jewel, unnoticed by everyone though, slipped from his hands.

He reached for it and he grabbed it.

It felt… rough in his dying hands.

He smiled and he looked at it. With that, his smile turned into a frown and disappointment filled him.

It was a rock. A dull one, indeed. The beauty of the jewel simply swiveled in his mind.

Unseen by the old man, it avoided people’s attention and slid into the sewers. An indefinite journey awaits it. However not long after that, the precious jewel disappeared into thin air.

The red car’s driver approached the poor man and he demanded an ambulance. The old man himself, made a glance towards him. Strangely, he recognizes him and his fading voice escaped his lips.

“You… are…”

The same, cannot be said for the man, as he drew a complete blank. The old man, slowly closing his eyes, departed from the world forever…

###

“And what is your name again?”

“Sullivan. Gregorius Sullivan.”

That’s his name. For whatever he did, he is at…

“Could you retell what happened at 3 pm?” the police officer asked Sullivan another question. The police station surely gives everyone, excluding the police, chills. Sullivan was no exception.

Just to justify that’s not my fault, he thought, I have to shiver here.

He told him everything happened. Just as he was about to finish, a sudden ring from the police’s phone broke the silence.

“Yes? Oh, right. Just try to find a match, and then we’ll know who this John Doe is.”

“What was that?” Sullivan asked for clarification.

“Oh, apparently, that man didn’t bring any kind of identification. Perhaps he forgot about it, but no worries. We can match our dental records, and eventually, we’ll find out who he is.”

“All right.”

“Now you may go. Thanks for the cooperation.”

Phew, let’s get back home.

Several minutes later, he got back to his flat, lounging at his couch lazily. Thoughts filled his mind, as he thought about his career life. Earlier, he was just getting back from an interview in one of the biggest company around, in fact.

I wish they let me fill the vacancy. Too bad, it’s a great company to work on, I have lots of competitors. Better not get the hopes high.

He already went through most of the exhaustive vacancy listing, still, not a job earned.

His phone rang. Wishing for good news, he picked it up.

Unfortunately, it was the converse. One simple sentence to break the whole thing apart.

“You didn’t get the job.”

But of course they aren’t that harsh. They rephrased it to make a longer and better sounding sentence. As a matter of fact, this is what they said.

“We’re sorry, but the vacancy is filled already. Your CV was not really up to it. Thanks for your application, though.”

Another opportunity, gone. That event, must be in the police’s archive, meaning I won’t get any good here. I must find another place to earn my living.

###

In a nutshell, Sullivan made it to the countryside near the mountains and worked in a jewelry shop. He also read from newspaper that the identity of the victim of a car accident is still unknown.

The owner of the shop had a daughter, and Sullivan fell in love with her. As with the girl, named Emily Tyers, responded his love, and therefore, they married about 5 years after the accident. 3 years after that, Emily’s father died, and left the shop to Sullivan and Emily. He continued his job, and expanded the simple shop into a growing net of jewelry business, making its way towards even the major cities. Years of working around jewels made him fond of them, and he developed ability to spot perfect jewels. The job earned him lots of money and he spent his life happily with Emily.

Sadly, at the age of 70, Emily died and left Sullivan alone. He could not bear it and then retired from his job. However, he still helped his company thrive from the backgrounds, by using his ability to supply well-made jewels.

One day, he overslept. He quickly proceeded through the daily chores. Accidentally he left his wallet in the process. He walked the road, as he didn’t like cars, to spot good jewels from a small shop to buy it cheap and sell it expensive. This had been continuing for years, even before Emily died. He thought that it is better to look first, and has his assistant buy them. As usual, he didn’t find anything, as good jewels are quite rare.

He took a break in the nearby park. Then, his good eyes noticed something gleaming in the sandbox. He dug it out and found a glittering blue jewel. Oddly, it was perfectly round. He smiled as he got such a perfect, beautiful jewel for nothing. His eyes could tell how faultless the jewel is. He ran along the road, but a thought developed in his mind.

Why would I give this to my company? I should keep this perfect beauty for myself.

He slowed down and took a turn, heading towards his home instead of his company headquarters. Little did he notice, that his surroundings wavered a bit. He slowed down some more, to take more time admiring the beauty, and he crossed the road.

He was thrown away and landed roughly on the asphalt. He started bleeding internally in large amount. The shock from gravity twitched his hand and the jewel rolled away. He tried to grab the jewel even though his conscious was fading away.

Desperately trying, he managed only to get a rock scattered randomly on the pavement.

The car’s only passenger got out of the car hurriedly and in panic, he could only call an ambulance. Sullivan tried to look at him, and he noticed one unexpected truth. He called out, trying to disclose it.

“You… are…”

Though he tried, his remaining stamina wasn’t sufficient. He could only think about it.

So… it was a jewel imbued with magical power. It distorted time…. Now I know who the old man I crashed into decades ago was …. He was…none other than me….

He closed his eyes, and took the last of his breath deeply.

---

here's my first short story. i know the last part was kinda hurried. feedbacks are welcome. btw, anyone could guess what the title means?

and also i don't know how to indent. woot.