Free Like Veins of Red Rubies (Most Precious Book 1) by Nicolas Abel Page A

on their
heads, and they would laugh.
    Emily led Stanley to the base of
the lake and lay down. Stanley did too.
    Emily raised her hand and let the
ring sparkle. "Tell me how you got the ring," she said. "It must
have taken ages to dig this many diamonds."
    "You know, I thought of
mining that only two months after we met. I thought you were the most beautiful
thing ever, and I just had to prepare." Stanley pointed across the lake to
an opening. "You see that hole over there? Whenever I had free time, I'd
sneak over there and just dig. It was a fool's hope to find anything, but my
intentions were set. It took ages, heck it took so much of my time that I
couldn't sleep some days. But I kept digging, knowing that one day, I would find some pretty gems. And surely, I found a
cluster of them. I was so overjoyed that I danced within that small tunnel and
hurried back home to get them refined."
    "I never knew that it took
so much effort."
    "Do you like it?"
    "Yes."
    "Then my work has paid
off," said Stanley.
    Emily kissed Stanley's cheek and
he giggled.
    "You know," said
Stanley, "I came across a vein of rubies yesterday. I wasn't going to tell
you, but I can't keep it from you."
    "Rubies?" said Emily,
her voice waning.
    "Yes. Rubies. I'm planning on coming here tomorrow to get some more." Stanley turned his
face to look at Emily. "How does a ruby necklace sound?"
    Emily didn't look back. Her gaze
remained on the ceiling and she paused before saying, "Good. That sounds
good."
    "Just good?" said
Stanley. "You don't like rubies?"
    "No, I'm just afraid of what
you might dig up," she said. She turned and faced Stanley. "If you
get all of these fancy things for me, I might fall in love with them, instead
of you."
    "Emily, I know you and you
are not like that," said Stanley.
    "But you never know."
    Stanley reached out and laid his
hand on Emily's face, turning her closer to him. "I know you will stay the
same," said Stanley. "And I want you to. Because that's the reason I
love you; you're perfect just now."
    Emily brought Stanley close and
kissed him.
    "Let’s stay here for a
while," said Emily, "alone, together."
    Stanley kissed her forehead.
"That sounds great."
    They spent the whole day there,
talking and laughing. Their joyous banter echoed within the hall that kept them
separated from world. And they were able to ignore everything and focus only
upon themselves. But when they heard nine rings from the town center, they returned
to their domicile, as everyone else did.
    Emily lay on her bed and slept,
but Stanley could not find rest. He changed into his casual white shirt, jeans,
and apron. He grabbed his duffle bag and quietly slipped out of his domicile.
    "Rubies," he said, as
he started toward town. "She’ll like the rubies."

TWO
     
    Stanley walked along the empty
streets. The row of domiciles was dark and quiet, except for the few lights and
silhouettes of people laughing and sharing conversations. He walked across the
town center and looked up at the clock that marked ten-forty.
    "I have about two hours
tonight," he said to himself and continued on.
    Stanley reached the broken wall
and went through to the lake. He set his bag beside him and knelt down to fold
the cuffs of his pants up to his knees. He removed his shoes and socks and held
them in his left hand. With his right, he grabbed his bag.
    He stepped into the water and
took slow steps, the calm water rippling from where he walked. Stanley sunk
deeper as he went farther in, until the water rose to his knees. It grazed the
tip of his folded pants, but he started rising and continued to do so until he
reached the other side. He set his bag down and opened it and withdrew a towel.
He dried his legs then placed the towel, along with his shoes and socks on top
of a rock. He zipped his bag open and walked to an opening and climbed through.
It was dark inside the tunnel, but light was not required for he stopped when
he banged his head.
    Stanley reached into his bag and
pulled