Ozzie lives is Weymouth, Massachusetts. He loves to walk the beaches because the colors of the sunrise and sunsets are works of art. He enjoys swimming, but isn’t allowed in the water without an adult. His parents both work. His older sister, Rosie, is a college student. She even takes summer classes so she will graduate early.
Not far from their house is a pebbled beach. Here, Ozzie loves to look for treasures like seashells, colorful stones and sea glass. He makes lovely wind chimes with his treasures. By artfully wrapping the items with wire, or drilling small holes in them with the Dremel drill his parents bought him, he threads and knots them onto thick strings and sometimes adds beads, buttons, or whatever else he finds on the beach. He even uses drift wood as a base to hold the colorful strings of charms, completing his masterpiece wind chimes. Ozzie sells them to tourists. He earns pretty good money for an eleven-year-old boy, partly because his Auntie Pattie displays them at her gift shop near the main beach in town.
One morning Ozzie was playing in the sand, digging around for pieces to add to his collection when he found an unusual treasure: an amulet. As he dusted off sand, it became warm in his hand. It seemed to be made of stone, or clay, and appeared very old. It was definitely a pendant of sorts because it had the hole for a chain or rope. The amulet itself was shaped like a circle outlined with a frame of rope-patterned etching that surrounded a symbol. The center contained a small circle within another small circle. Four oblong holes jotted out from there, forming a cross shape with triangular arms of equal length. Ozzie put it in his pocket to keep it safe. This would not be for a wind chime. He would keep this for himself.
When he got home he chose a piece of leather string, looped it through the hole of his amulet and made a necklace long enough to fit over his head. He made sure to knot the string securely so it would never unravel. Thanks to Boy Scouts he had learned the art of knot making a few years ago. He tucked the charm into his shirt and went about his day.
Ozzie did his chores and then made lunch. His friend came over and while they were playing video games his sister, Rosie, came home. Her school was only twenty minutes away so she still lived at home. This made Ozzie happy.
“Want to play, Sis?” he asked.
“No, thanks. I have to study,” Rosie replied.
After his friend left, Ozzie decided to work on his wind chimes until his parents got home and made dinner. As he worked he felt the amulet warm against his chest. He pulled it out from beneath his shirt and discovered the thing was glowing! A white frosty light emitted from the pendent, then faded away.
“Wow!” said Ozzie. “It’s a magic amulet!” he exclaimed. “How cool.” He warmed the amulet in between his palms, trying to make it glow again, but it did not. He continued working on his wind chime and soon the amulet began to glow. Ozzie let it be. It was giving him more light to work, anyway. Using a needle-nose pliers he worked a wire around a beautiful red stone he had polished with olive oil the previous day. The amulet remained aglow the entire time he worked.
A door slammed. Ozzie knew either Mom or Dad was home. As he tidied up his craft table the amulet began to fade again. How odd, thought Ozzie. It seems to glow only while I worked on my wind chime. He shrugged his shoulders and placed the charm beneath his shirt as he walked out of his room to go help with dinner.
The amulet did not heat up again that night. But the next morning, when Ozzie strolled the beach, he felt it warm up again. It glowed the entire time he was on the beach. Leaving to go home, it faded again.
Why did it glow when he worked on his wind chimes and when he walked the beach? Ozzie was curious. Maybe the magical charm needed to be near other charms like his sea shells. Did the sea shells make it glow? Only time would tell, but Ozzie was determined to figure out why the amulet glowed the white light, and what else, if anything, it did. He kept his treasure beneath his shirt whenever he was around other people. It was his own special secret.
The next day was Saturday, and on Saturdays Ozzie and his mom went to the library to check out books. Also, his mom spent a half hour in a yoga class next door. Ozzie sat at a library table reading his book while he waited for her class to finish.
Ozzie was aware that the entire time he was in the library his pendant was aglow. He could feel the warmth on his chest, but he did not dare take it out from beneath his shirt and risk someone seeing it. Sometimes it glowed so bright you could see it through a light fabric. To be sure the glow was hidden, he had started wearing thicker, dark t-shirts.
After reading for some time, his mind began to drift. Ozzie realized that the sea shells did not make the amulet glow. There were no sea shells in the library. He was baffled.
“There you are,” said his mom, approaching. “Ready to go?” she asked.
Ozzie placed his bookmark in the page and closed his book. “Yep!”
“How about Brother’s Cafe for lunch? A salad sounds good to me,” she said.
Ozzie smiled. “I’m getting the roast beef,” he exclaimed as they walked to the car. They always stopped for lunch on their Saturdays together. Ozzie usually got roast beef or pizza. By the time they reached the car the heat from the pendant faded and Ozzie knew the glow was gone again. He wondered why the library would light it up. It sure was a mystery.
During lunch he thought about the making of his wind chimes, the walking on the beach, and the library; but he could not see a connection. Perhaps he was looking in the wrong direction. Maybe he needed help solving this mystery of why it lit up. And, what was the purpose of the glow? Yes, it added light while he worked on his craft. But he didn’t need extra light when he walked the beach. There must be some other significance, he thought. But who could he trust to help him figure it out?
“Are you okay, honey? You seem distracted?”
“Huh? Oh. No, Mom. I’m fine. How’s your salad?” he asked.
“Wonderful,” she replied.
When they got home Ozzzie’s dad was mowing the lawn and Rose was out shopping with her friends. His mom went downstairs to do some laundry. Since Ozzie had finished his big chores the previous day, he decided to sit on the patio and continue reading his book.
It happened again!
The warmth. The glow. The magic. When he put the book down it faded. When he picked it up, it glowed. That explained the library. Apparently, creating his wind chimes, walking the beach, and reading made the amulet light up. Hopefully, when he figured out why it glowed, he will find a use for it, too. If nothing else, it will make a nice night light when he reads before bed. But Ozzie knew there was more to it than that.
The next day was Sunday, and the whole family went to church. As soon as they walked in, the amulet warmed against Ozzie’s chest; and it remained aglow through the entire service. On the way out, Ozzie read the sign he had read a thousand times before: Our Lady—Star of the Sea. That’s it! It wasn’t the sea shells. It was the sea. The amulet must have something to do with the sea, he thought. His wind chimes were made from the sea. The beach is part of the sea. And, the book he was reading was a story about a sailing race—on a sea. Lastly, the name of his church reflected the sea! Ozzie was elated. He believed he had finally figured it out.
However, as the day progressed, he started to have doubts. Yes, it made sense that the sea was related to the amulet. After all, it did come from the sea, washed up on the beach for Ozzie to find. But that seemed too easy. Why did it glow? What was the meaning of the glow? The purpose? There was magic in the amulet, that’s for sure. He felt connected to it now, having worn it every day since he’d found it.
Ozzie had a feeling that the amulet acted as a guide of some sort. It was too small to light the way for seamen to find port. It wasn’t as big as a lighthouse! Did it want to go back to the sea? Was it glowing to tell Ozzie to throw it back into the waves? . . . That didn’t seem right either.
He went to his room to study it further. He looked at it with a magnifying glass, then decided to draw it. Rubbing his pencil over a piece of paper with the amulet beneath it he was able to create the texture of the charm, especially since it glowed while he worked. He then added details to the drawing and created a nearly perfect image. The glow faded away.
Ozzie turned on his tablet and tried to research the symbol. The first option was the crucifixion of Jesus. The second, Odin’s cross. But neither of these symbols had the rope-like edge around the cross. It would take hours to surf through all the options on the internet. He needed to talk to a professional. Sometimes you have to ask for help. A knock on his door interrupted his thoughts.
Ozzie put the necklace back, tucking it beneath his shirt. “Come in.”
“Mom made Rice Krispy treats if you want some,” said Rosie.
She was about to walk away. “Wait!” Ozzie called.
“These are mine,” she replied. “Go get your own.”
“No. I mean, yes, I will. But I want to ask you something.”
She walked in, her eyes scanning the room and resting on Ozzie’s craft table. “Almost done with another wind chime I see,” she said.
“Yep.”
“What’s this?” she asked, picking up the drawing of the amulet.
“That’s what I want to ask you about. Any way you could find out for me?”
“Find out what this is?”
“Yeah,” Ozzie replied. “Or where and when it’s from.”
“It’s origin?” she asked.
“Yes. That.”
“Well. There is an archaeology professor at my school, but I don’t take her class. She might know. Where did you get this drawing?”
“Ah, from a friend,” he lied.
Just then Ozzie felt the amulet become very cold. This was new.
“Why don’t you come to school with me tomorrow. I only have one class. We can stop by the archaeology department afterward.”
“What class?” he asked.
“Managerial Accounting.”
“No way. Too boring.”
“Do you want answers or not? Come on. I’ll buy you a smoothie before class.”
“Well, okay,” Ozzie agreed.
The following day, after Rosie’s long, boring math class, Ozzie was able to show his drawing to an archaeology professor named Susan Stillman.
“This is a very nice drawing,” said the professor. “Did you draw it?”
“No,” said Ozzie. “My friend, Tony, drew it.”
Hidden beneath his t-shirt, the amulet grew cold against his skin. That was twice now.
“Well, let me see. Do you think your friend will mind if I scan his drawing into my computer. I have a program that recognizes symbols.”
“No. He won’t mind,” said Ozzie.
“Very good,” she said.
“Thank you very much, Professor Stillman,” said Rosie.
“Call me Susan,” she replied and began typing into her computer. A few seconds later she pushed her chair away and glided back to her desk. “It will just be a moment while the program does its thing,” she said smiling.
“Thank you,” said Ozzie.
“It’s no trouble. Where did the symbol come from?”
“Huh?” said Ozzie.
“Why did your friend draw it, where did he see it?”
“Ah, well. He found a bit of stone.” The amulet became cold again. Apparently the thing knew when Ozzie was lying. Still, Ozzie believed it was nobody’s business where it came from. It was his secret. But he did feel guilty for lying, especially to his sister.
“Really!” said Susan. “Where?” she asked.
“On the beach,” Ozzie replied. The coldness faded to normal. He thought it was too bad it didn’t tell him when other people lied. He knew when he, himself, was lying. Still, he thought, it was another clue. The amulet had a magical property regarding truth.
“Here we go!” Susan exclaimed. She printed out the results and handed them to Ozzie.
“What does it say?” asked Rosie.
Looking at the screen, Susan read that it was a Celtic cross symbolizing the human desire to know and experience the meaning of life.
“Well, that’s kind of vague,” Rosie commented.
“There’s more. It’s in the print out. I hope it helps. But, I have a class in half an hour and still need to grab lunch.”
“Of course,” said Rosie, standing up.
“Thank you,” said Ozzie.
Rosie flung her book bag over her shoulder.
“Oh, here’s your drawing.” Susan handed Ozzie the paper. “Bye now!”
“Bye, thanks again,” said Rosie. They walked out of the office. “Well, kiddo, ready to head home?”
“Yep. Thank you for your help,” he said.
“Anytime, little bro.”
Ozzie wanted to read the results right away, but instead he folded the paper and put it in his pocket. He spent the car ride home telling his sister his secret. The pendant warmed as he spoke.
After Rosie promised not to tell, he showed her the magical charm, pulling his glowing amulet out from beneath his shirt.
“Oh, my!” said Rosie. She pulled the car over to the side of the road. “How cool,” she said. “It must be made out of some phosphorescent mineral.”
“Um. Yeah. Maybe. I guess,” said Ozzie.
“Or, magic,” she added, smiling.
Ozzie smiled back. They were back on the road and home in no time.
Ozzie knew his sister didn’t believe in magic anymore, but he did and always would. He ran upstairs and read the printout Professor Susan had given him.
It said that the four arms of the Celtic Cross can represent the four directions or the four elements. That was interesting. But it got better. Ozzie read that it can represent self, nature, wisdom, and God/Goddess.
This touched him. He knew this was the truth of his amulet. This is how it guided. Self was Ozzie. And Ozzie felt most himself when he did his art. It always glowed when he worked on his wind chimes and it glowed when he drew the amulet. Nature was the ocean. It glowed when he walked the beach. Wisdom was books. It lit up whenever Ozzie was reading. And, God/Goddess was church. It glowed when he was in his church, Our Lady- Star of the Sea.
These were all good things. Important things, he thought. And truth, was also important. When it got cold because of lies, that was also guiding him back to the light.
The mystery was solved. From that day on Ozzie kept the amulet as a guide to help him make good choices in his life. And it worked magic.
The End.
From A-Z Bedtime Stories by Celia Blake
© 2022 Celia Blake
Soon, the collection will also be available on TwilightLetters.com
Photo by Mikita Yo
