The Gem of Destiny 

“Goodbye, children. I will be on my way now, sunshines. Don’t worry, I'll be back before you know it,” Granny Linda called out as she waved goodbye to her grandchildren, sailing into the horizon.

All of her grandchildren happily waved back, shouting, “Bye, Granny Linda!”

As Linda was about to sit down on her king-sized bed, she opened her pendant containing a photo of her husband, who had been in a terrible car crash the year before. She couldn’t help but think about what would’ve happened if that silly teenager hadn’t taken that wrong turn. It had been a year since the terrible incident. Linda’s quirky husband had always wanted to go to Africa to help young, innocent children, so on the anniversary of his passing, Linda decided to fulfill her husband's dream.

A few weeks had passed, filled with five-star meals and exciting activities, but Linda was still extremely lonely. Finally, after five weeks on the yacht, Linda could smell the fresh African air and see many animals. She couldn’t wait to help the children and live her husband's dream. She hobbled onto the dry terrain and made her way to the safari so she could start the tour.

“My name is Theodore. I’ll be your safari guide today, folks. We will stop to take some photos when we come across some of Africa's most wonderful animals!”

The safari buggy trundled down the rugged track and along to some of the lookouts. As they halted to a stop, the passengers hopped out of the buggy to admire the elegant giraffes. Linda was caught in the moment, admiring the poised animals as they pranced around with the grace of swans. She pulled out her camera to snap a picture of the graceful creatures. When she turned around, she saw a distant silhouette of a buggy driving into the sunset.

“Wait for me! Where are you going?” Linda cried out in desperation.

After a while of chasing the buggy and yelling for help, Linda gave up. She was exhausted and could not get a signal on her phone. Just as she was brainstorming what to do, a pride of lions emerged from the tall grasses and started prancing towards her. She had no time to think but just had to act. As she stood frozen in fear, an enormous gray figure scooped her up, and her gray hair swept to the side. She was lifted and swung around to sit on a leathery but firm surface. As the image became clearer, she realized it was an elephant! The elephant had picked her up with its trunk. It must have been some sort of miracle to be saved like this.

Although she was rescued, she still didn’t completely understand what had just happened.

“Well, what’s your name, big guy?” Linda asked the elephant, not expecting a reply.

To her utter confusion and surprise, a loud voice bellowed, “Oh, me? I'm Chris.”

She was speechless.

“Uh… how are you t… talking?” asked Linda.

“I just can talk. I'm gonna take you to a place where you can stay the night because it looks to me like you are just a lost, helpless tourist.”

After a while of journeying, they arrived at a mysterious-looking tent.

“Come in, come in,” said a strange voice from inside the tent. The mysterious voice sent chills down Linda’s spine. She slowly peered through the tent, seeing a strange woman in a purple cloak, with talons for nails and a magic orb. Linda suddenly realized who the strange woman was—she was a fortune teller!

The old lady slowly moved her hand across her magic orb. She told Linda to go inside a tall mountain to retrieve a gem. She promised Linda that she would be provided with shelter and food until she got the gem. It was Linda’s only chance of survival, so she took the mission and set off on her journey into the mountain.

About a day later, she reached the cave. She peered through the entrance and saw a dazzling green light. She slowly tiptoed inside when she suddenly heard a crackle behind her. Linda quickly turned her head, and what she saw was astonishing. It was the fortune teller! It was a trap. The fortune teller had known all along. The fortune teller rushed past her, grabbing the gem. Out of the blue, a big light began to form. It was almost like the gem was transferring dark magic into her.

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!” Linda screamed, terrified by what she saw.

Linda was in the cave, fighting for her life. If she didn’t get the gem, she wouldn’t make it back to her grandchildren. Her grandchildren were in the back of her mind the whole time. A huge blast flew through the air, knocking Linda out.

She heard some loud stomps on the ground, now more scared than ever. The stomping made the scene even scarier than the actual fight, but then—“Boom!” Linda couldn’t see anything. Then, out of the corner of her eye, she could just see a man putting a ring on his finger. Linda jumped up, not knowing what to say. She looked around, not knowing where she was.

“I’m Theodore, your tour guide. Remember?”

Linda felt foolish for not recognizing him, but then she looked around and asked, “Where’s the fortune teller?”

Theodore went quiet for a moment, then started stumbling over his words. “Well, it’s a long story, but, well, I’m a shapeshifter, and I can shapeshift into an elephant.”

“So?” Linda asked.

“Well, I kinda killed her with my tusk,” Theodore replied.

Linda was in shock but glad he had done that for her. Without him, she wouldn’t have survived. She couldn’t walk, and then the tour guide said, “I’ll give you a lift.” She was still in shock as he started turning into an elephant. She recognized this elephant and was so surprised when she realized he was a shapeshifter. They arrived at the yacht, and she waved him goodbye as the boat was taking off. She could hear Theodore yell out to her, “Goodbye, Linda.”

Linda was walking back to the yacht when all of a sudden, the tour guide shouted out to her. “There’s something I haven't told you—I’m your husband,” he said with a small smirk on his face.

“WHAT!? Tim, is that you?” yelled Linda in confusion.

All of a sudden, Tim’s body began to transform into the husband Linda remembered. She glanced at her pendant and saw that it really was him. Linda started breaking down into tears and gave Tim a big hug and a kiss. They were both super emotional, finally reuniting. Even though they were extremely excited to see each other, Tim tried to explain that he was a shapeshifter. Tim then also said that he was just a spirit. Suddenly, Tim faded into thin air, creating sparkling dust around where he was standing. The dust surrounding his body started to get sucked inside Linda’s ring. Linda could forever be with her loved one.

“Tim! Tim! Where are you?”

Linda understood what Tim was trying to say, though. She heard a small voice coming from the special ring.

“Tap me twice to see me, your husband, though choose your time wisely as you get one hour a day,” whispered the ring softly.

Linda felt exhilarated that she could connect with her husband again. After all that had happened, Linda felt exhausted and started to miss her grandchildren. She jumped onto the yacht, knowing she had a long trip ahead of her. Linda had to make a hard decision; she was deciding whether to teleport Tim onto the yacht. She thought and thought but finally made a decision. She teleported him to cure her boredom. Linda had been extremely bored on the way to Africa, but this time she wasn’t as lonely because she was able to communicate with Tim. Finding a way to cure her boredom made this trip much easier. Linda lost track of time when she was chatting with Tim, and when Tim had to go, she would continue thinking about her grandchildren.

Finally, six weeks had passed, and she was back in Australia. The grandchildren were so excited to see Linda.