A shaft of warm may sunlight splintered in a flurry of sparkling dots against the dark wood floors and off-white walls. Casting the array of colorful light was a simple gem clearer than drinking water. Consumed by the dazzling display was a pair of honey-brown eyes that held bright specks of gold. Gently clasped in her soot-covered hands were the sprawling roots of a just de-potted raspberry plant.
It was early morning or a late night for Adrian, with her lack of self-control, and sudden green thumb leading her to this strange moment.
Deciding it was best to continue the task at hand, Adrian put aside her need to quell her undying curiosity for the moment, and scurried through her apartment to the back porch where the sun hit better.
Adrian might as well been named jane, for she was a complete scatterbrain. After successfully bringing the plant from point A to B without leaving a trail of dirt, she found herself running back to her front porch to pick up the hand shovel she left strewn in the front garden bed. After a couple more mishaps with misplacing items, and then actually getting the plant in the ground, Adrian put her sole attention on the sparkly object that had found its way into her home.
The jewel stood out sorely against her cheap laminate "wood" floors. At the bare minimum, she could describe it as above her pay grade. Reaching for the eloquent gem, Adrian caught herself in a dazed state, her palms merely millimeters away from its alluring surface.
How something that pretty entered her cheap scape apartment eluded her to the highest degree. It had been over a month since she had brought over anyone due to the recent events over the last year, and even so her few friends were as dirt poor as her.
The only plausible way such an object could end up here was if someone had snuck in through a cracked window or unlocked door and placed it there.
'But in that case, what void-brained idiot would sneak a gem that looked like that into someone else's apartment? Unless it was cursed or something.' Adrian discarded that rabbit hole of superstitious thoughts immediately, instead of searching for other reasons someone would leave valuable objects for someone else to find.
Wanting to ease the sense of wonder forming in her head, she quickly convinced herself that some druggy stole it then tried to rob her. Then when they realized she was still there, they left in a hurry and dropped it by accident. "Perfectly reasonable," she concluded out loud, finally picking the glittering object.
The gem was surprisingly heavy and was warm to the touch, and didn't cloud as her hands felt out the glass-like surface. As she moved away from the beam of warm morning light that slipped through her thrifted curtains, her heart skipped a beat. The mysterious stone emitted a pale glow. The gem tumbled from her uncoordinated hands in surprise and landed with a loud thunk, inches from her vulnerable toes.
Adrian cringed at the prospect of dropping the gem just a few inches closer. Taking in a deep breath, Adrian stepped back from the mystery gem. It could be radioactive for all she knew. Pulling out her very war-torn phone, she began her research with 'Signs of radioactive material'. After minutes of skimming through a myriad of articles, her sense of worry skyrocketed. Even if it was radioactive, signs of radiation poisoning would take a couple of days to appear. Her mind swiftly swept her away to calculate the various horrendous situations that might occur.
"God, I don't have time for this bullshit" Adrian groaned, putting a stop to divulging any more into her imagination.
Scrounging the shelves of her kitchen, she retrieved a ziplock bag. half hazardously, she bagged the jewel and stuffed it into her backpack. Cramming her feet into her steel-toed boots, she shuffled through her apartment locking all the doors and windows before beginning her 'walk' to work.
Adrian secured her backpack tighter to her body and pulled her switchblade into a ready position if any trouble was to arise. Hitting shuffle on her playlist, she began her 2 miles, morning jog to work. She passed by many questionable figures that were shamelessly eyeing her for money. As much as Adrian loved to exercise and not killing the earth, she also loved not running through her shady-ass neighborhood. But when deciding whether she would like to sleep on a bed in an apartment, or the seat of the car, she had chosen the former.
It took her 25 minutes each morning to get to work, and 15 minutes of that was walking through the slums she called home. As the air smelt less like menthol, and more like fast food, Adrian took in a deep breath and slowed her pace to just walking.
She relished the 20 minutes of free time till she had to be at work, letting herself be enthralled in music that was considerably loud for walking through a very populated city. After a very long wait for the walking signal to go green, she glided across the crosswalk, very oblivious of the car that was moving a little too fast in her direction.