She knew how much her son liked jumble sales.
The trouble was, he tended to wander off. There was always the fear that he would do it one day and get lost, but today she thought he was old enough to walk around on his own. She said he could do this, but only if he stayed inside the building and looked to see where she was from time to time. With this agreement, he began looking at all the things laid out on tables around the room. There was such a lot to look at. If, as in the past, he found something that he really liked, she would sometimes buy it for him. He moved along to a table that was covered with small items. An old man with a white beard stood behind the table and watched him pick up a small box and look inside. There were several rings in it. He took them out one at a time. They were all far too big for him. He had a large brass ring that only fitted loosely over his thumb, when the man said. “Do you like it?”
The boy said, “No… I don’t think so.”
“Is that right?” came the reply.
The boy shrugged.
The man went on with a small voice, “What you have there, my lad, is a ‘future-ring’. There are not many of them around, I can tell you that.”
The boy’s interest was piqued. “What does it do?”
The man chuckled. “It shows you the future. That’s what it does!”
The boy looked confused.
The man held out his hand. “Let me show you how it works.” He took it and raised it up to his old, smiling face, saying, “You hold it like this. You hold it up to your eye and look through it to see the future. It doesn’t work every time, mind you. You have to get it just right.”
He handed it back and the boy looked at it more intently this time.
“Tell you what,” the man said, “that one’s free today.”
The boy was thrilled. He looked up and blurted out, “Thanks.” He rushed off to find his mother.
When told about it she looked back at the old man and gave him her own wave of thanks. They were running out of time, so she said she would have a good look at it when they got home.
When they arrived back, she made a cup of tea for herself and a fruit juice for him. Then, smiling at her son’s obvious excitement about his new treasure, she clapped her hands, softly. “Now then,” she began, “tell me more about this wonderful thing that the kind man gave you for nothing.”
He showed her. “The man said it was a future ring.”
“Oh! Did he now?”
“Yes.”
“Does it work?”
“Sometimes.”
“Let me see.” He handed it to her. She put it to her eye and looked through it at her son. She smiled as she gave it back and gave him a big hug.
When she’d finished squeezing him, he asked, “What did you see?”
“The future,” she said.