It could be a fair stone said the jeweler - it's not the best cut - but it's not so bad,
but the setting it came in really does nothing and is sealed so i cannot reset it. If it
were set as this one is it could do so much more. The customer looked at those
stones the jeweler had to offer, the small stone had seemed nice enough to him, but
if the jeweler felt it was inferior perhaps it would be a poor choice - so he selected
another. The jeweler sighed and looked again at the small stone. Such an odd color
and setting, not at all what people want. He sighed and tossed the stone into a drawer
with those stones that were chipped and flawed, "I'm likely stuck with you."
With that he slammed the drawer shut.
As time passed he would put the stone out with others when people came in but he
seemed almost to try to not sell the stone, always selling others by pointing out
their beauty and pointing out the small stone’s flaws. When the people would leave
he would carefully place the nicer stones back in their tray and toss the small stone
back into the drawer. Over time the stone became clouded and small chips began to
show on the edges - the setting became dented and tarnished. He would look at the
small stone - "How am i ever to sell you?" And a tear fell in the heart of the tiny
stone and a bubble formed. The next time the jeweler took the stone from the drawer
he noticed the bubble. "Oh dear, now how am i ever to sell this stone?"
One evening a customer came in not really looking for a stone, but somehow he
saw something in the tiny stone. The jeweler again pointed out the better points of
the other stones - the flaws in the tiny stone, but the young man was certain the tiny
stone was what he wanted. He left with the tiny stone tucked safely in a pocket
- when he got home he cleaned and polished the setting and cleaned the stone so it
was no longer cloudy. Then he carefully tucked the stone into a pocket to carry with
him and protect.
Now the glen where the jeweler lived was small and everyone saw everyone else
regularly, it was the jeweler’s custom to keep up with how his customers
(and stones) were doing, and always when he met the young man he would offer
to allow him to trade the small stone as a partial payment and always the young
man politely declined.
As time passed the young man began to carefully secure the tiny stone other places
he knew would be safe, always looking over the well being of the tiny stone. One day
the stone found he had left her in a place where there were others - all kinds of being.
Others who seemed, like the young man, not to mind the flaws - and a few who felt
the tiny stone was, in fact, not flawed at all. One of them tried to show her that
being unique was not a flaw, that a rare color should be treasured, and that the bubble
was a tear - the very rainbow of the soul. And with time and patience the tiny stone
began not to fear that others would notice her or what they might think if she dared
to show a tiny sparkle.
