A short story about the connection between a girl and her necklace.

She always wore the necklace, ever since she first got it at age eleven. It was a small, gold (or so she thought) oval on a long gold chain. When she first wore it, the oval reached the bottom of her stomach. (Years later, when she turned sixteen, it would finally fall above her belly button, just where she liked it.) As a shy girl with few friends, nobody really noticed that she always wore it, until two years later, when she was thirteen. “Why do you wear that all the time?” They started to ask her every day at lunch. At first, she was hesitant, thinking a multitude of thoughts, like, “Why should I tell them?” or, “What if they thought I was crazy?” As her friends stared at her, waiting for some magical or mystical answer, she would hold on to it, but not too hard or its silky texture would cause it to slip. She would flip her dark curly hair out of her face, let go of the necklace, and fold her arms as she waited for the awkward silence to end when someone felt so uncomfortable that they would change the subject. This continued for a little over three weeks, until everyone gave up on being able to hear her strange story. The truth was, she didn’t wear it because it made her pretty, although that was a plus, or because it reminded her of someone. She wore it because when she got it, she was hopeless and felt alone. Nothing changed after she got the necklace, she still felt the same, but it reminded her that people still loved her, even when she was broken.

Process

In my Creative Writing class, my professor asked us to write a story that centers around an object. I struggled with this at first, but when I looked down and saw the necklace my mom gave me, I remembered how much this object meant to me. After writing the story down, I edited it a couple of times before showing it to my mentor, Anne, for advice. When it was finished, I started to truly understand the power of objects in stories. From books to sports memorabilia, objects can show so much about a character and create a better connection between the character and the reader.