Conor Murphy

Conor Murphy, a recent high school graduate, was lying on his bed playing a game on his tablet when his mom’s voice floated up from the kitchen through his open door.

“Conor, I need to talk to you.”

He put his tablet down before stretching and walking out of his room. He paused at the mirror hanging on the wall at the top of the stairs. Conor wasn’t exactly an imposing young man. At five feet eight inches, he had messy brown hair, blue eyes, and a functional square jaw, if not what one would call beautiful. He was wearing a green T-shirt and blue jeans. He quickly headed downstairs to see what his mom wanted.

When he entered the kitchen, he found his mom reading a letter on the island. Her name was Alison Murphy. A warm summer breeze gently came in through the open window next to the sink. Conor’s mom was a short woman with the same blue eyes as Conor and brown hair streaked with grey. She also ran regularly, which allowed her to keep a slim figure.

“What’s up, Mom?” he asked.

“Uncle Jack has sent you something to look at,” she replied, pointing to a small box on the kitchen island.

“Oh really,” replied Conor, his interest piqued.

Conor walked up to the island and looked inside the box. He found a gold ring with a deep, rich purple amethyst set in it. Conor was an amateur gemologist, so the gemstone set into the ring would certainly pique his interest. He picked up the ring and studied it.

“I know you like to study gems, Conor, but you should carefully handle that ring. It looks very nice and may be worth a lot of money,” said Alison.

“I will, Mom. By the way, what does the letter say?”

“Just the wild claims that your uncle heard from the guy that sold him the ring,” said Alison dismissively.

Mother and son shared a knowing smirk since this wasn’t the first time Alison’s brother had sent them something that was supposed to do some crazy things. So far, nothing has been done of note.

Conor did want to see what wild claims had been attributed to the ring, so he said, “Hey, Mom, can I see the letter?”

Alison handed him the letter before walking away, shaking her head at some people’s absurd beliefs. Conor decided to go somewhere private to look at the letter.