The Ruby Heart Necklace

On August 9th, 2021, 19-year old Leannie Soleada opened her front door to a brown paper box with her name on it. She picked it up and went to her kitchen to open it.

She ripped the cardboard to find $5,000 in cash. She screamed.

“Oh my god!”

Her dad ran into the kitchen.

“What?” he asked.

“I just got $5,000!” she said.

“From who?”

“I don’t know! There’s no name! Just mine!”

Her dad laughed excitedly.

“Do you know what this means?” she asked.

Her dad shook his head.

Leannie rushed to her room and quickly did a google search for the best recording studio in the area.

“It means I can finally record my album!” she screamed.

Leannie had been waiting for five years. She was a singer, and she had at least thirty original songs lined up. Because of pricey school tuition and low-paying jobs, she never had enough money to get her songs professionally recorded and mastered. That is, until now.

“Who do you think gave you the money?” her dad asked.

“I’m not sure,” Leannie said.

He picked up the box to throw it away, but his eye caught something at the bottom.

“Look at this,” he said, pulling out the mysterious object.

It was a silver necklace with a ruby stone in the shape of a heart.

Leannie was astounded. She had never seen such a beautiful necklace before.

“Wow,” she said.

She quickly put the necklace in her jewelry box. Then, she went back to her computer.

“I have to narrow down my thirty songs! I’m going to pick the very best 8.”

“Sounds good,” her dad said, “This is crazy! I’m so excited for you!”

Leannie screamed again. She couldn’t wait until people finally heard her music.

She picked her eight songs, spent six months picking instruments and perfecting the sheet music, and spent two months rehearsing with a band and recording.

On February 4th, 2023, she released the completed album. Overnight, over 140,000 people had listened to her songs. In a week, over ten million people had listened, and she signed to one of the biggest record labels in the country. And, in a month, over two-hundred million people had listened to her album. Leannie took the world by storm. That same year, she was nominated for a Grammy in the category of “best new artist.” She attended the ceremony wearing a ruby dress and her ruby heart necklace.

When she won, she stepped on stage and gave an impromptu speech.

“I don’t know what to say,” she started, “this is the exact moment that I’ve always dreamed about.”

Looking out at the audience, she started tearing up.

“I want to thank my family, my friends, all of the musicians and engineers I’ve worked with…” she paused.

She stared up at the ceiling, thinking. She clutched her ruby heart.

“And…” she said… “I want to thank the anonymous stranger who gave me $5,000 last year. If it weren’t for this incredible act of kindness from a stranger, I wouldn’t be here today. So, kind stranger, if you see this, thank you from the bottom of my heart. You’re an angel. You’re a hero.”

Fifteen years later, Leannie’s career was still thriving. She was putting out an album every year, each one tackling a new genre. She made a conscious effort to be unpredictable -- that’s what kept people on their toes. Because of her exposure in the music industry, she even got into the film industry. Over the course of five years, she developed eight screenplays, directed three films, and acted in twenty-nine. She even successfully pitched three film ideas that she had come up with when she was a teenager. Without the connections she had, those films would’ve never seen the light of day.

She was not just a singer or an actress -- she was a superstar. Better yet, an icon.

On December 31st, 2043, she performed in Times Square for the New Year’s Eve celebration. The next morning, she flipped through the channels in hopes of finding a recording of her performance. Instead, she found global breaking news.

“We don’t know what the implications are. We don’t know who has access. We’re trying to navigate this situation as best as we can,” one news reporter said.

She was confused. She switched the channel.

“It’s easily accessible, as far as we’re concerned. But we also know there are a lot of risks. It’s very dangerous. And there are certainly ethical implications.” another reporter said.

Leannie widened her eyes at the screen.

“If you’ve just come on, here’s what’s happening. This morning, at 6:40 A.M, an unidentified Facebook user posted a surefire way to transport an inanimate object to the past. Yes, you heard that right, this anonymous person has revealed how to accomplish time travel. It’s not exactly the time travel you see in movies -- there’s no information on how to send yourself -- just how to send things. The science is unclear, but the information is true and the results have been confirmed. The original post has been deleted but there have been too many reposts to conceal the information from the public. This is not something that you should be doing. We recommend you stay off the internet, as these actions are extremely tempting but carry severe risks. We have been in contact with the federal government, who’ve come out with a statement that if you are caught participating, you could face a life sentence in prison.”

Leannie’s jaw dropped. She texted everyone she knew. Unsurprisingly, every single person was flabbergasted.

Suddenly, her door rang. She opened the door to her best friend Clarissa.

“Hey!” Clarissa said.

“Hey,” Leannie said, gesturing her inside, “did you hear the news?”

“Yeah! So crazy. I’m kind of terrified.”

“You are?”

“Yeah. Who knows what’s happening right now. There are plenty of curious and impulsive people out there. And evil people. I’m really scared of what this could do to the present or the future.”

“Well,” Leannie said, “as long as we don’t engage, I’m sure nothing will happen to us specifically.”

“I hope not,” Clarissa said.

“So, what’s up?” Leannie asked.

“Well, I wanted to bring you a little gift to congratulate you on your superb performance yesterday!”

Clarissa handed her a small box and they sat down on the couch.

Leannie blushed, “Girl, thank you so much. That means so much to me.”

She opened the box and froze.

It was the same ruby heart necklace she already had.

“Oh my God, it’s so gorgeous...” she paused, “but I already have this.”

“You do?” Clarrisa asked.

“Yeah,” she said, “I wore it to the Grammys, remember?”

“Really? I don’t remember that at all.”

“Well, I’m pretty sure I did, unless I’m remembering incorrectly,” Leannie said, pulling out her phone and scrolling through her photos. She pulled up a picture of her at the Grammys and found no trace of the ruby heart necklace. She looked at another photo -- nothing. And another -- nothing. Her heart started to race. Was her mind playing tricks on her? She felt like she was going crazy.

“Oh…” she said, “that’s weird.”

“You must’ve mistaken the Grammys for another event,” Clarissa said.

“Maybe,” Leannie said, even though she distinctly remembered clutching her necklace on stage. In fact, the only reason she wore a ruby dress to the Grammys was so that she could match the stone.

“Well, do you still have it?” Clarissa asked, “Because I can go back to the store and exchange this one for another necklace.”

“I’m sure I do,” Leannie said.

She rushed to her room and opened her jewelry box. It wasn’t there. She emptied out all of her drawers and found no necklace.

She rushed back over to Clarissa.

“Did you find it?” Clarissa asked.

“No,” Leannie said.

“Well, you should take this as a replacement!” Clarissa said.

Leannie, in a daze, nodded and took the necklace.

“Where did you get this?” Leannie asked.

“This boutique in Los Angeles. Miss Milly’s.”

Leannie nodded, staring intently at the necklace.

“Are you okay?” Clarissa asked.

“Yes,” she said.

“Okay. Well, I have to go babysit my neighbors’ kids, but I’ll see you in a couple days. Maybe we can go to that fancy restaurant in Montecito!”

Leannie nodded as they walked toward the door.

“Bye!” Clarissa said.

Leannie closed the door and ran to her bedroom to get her keys. She ran into the garage, started the car, and backed out of her driveway. By the time she was on the street, Clarissa hadn’t even made it to her own car.

She drove to Miss Milly’s on Melrose and showed the cashier the necklace.

“My friend got this here,” Leannie said.

“Is there a problem with it?” the cashier asked.

“No, but… is this the only place where someone could find this necklace?”

“All of our jewelry is handmade in the store, so yes.”

“Do you know how many of these were made?”

“Well there were about ten or twenty a couple days ago, but we’re sold out now.”

Leannie sighed. Nothing made sense.

“Do you know who might’ve made it?”

“Yeah, one moment,” she said, walking into the back room.

She came out a minute later with an elderly lady.

“This is Gloria,” she said.

“Hi,” Gloria said.

“Hi,” Leannie said, “did you make this?”

“Yes,” Gloria said, “I create all of the necklaces by hand. I’ve been working here for sixty years.”

“When did you first start making this exact necklace?”

“A couple months ago.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“You’re sure you weren’t making this, say, twenty years ago?”

“Absolutely not. We just started getting ruby shipments last year.”

Leannie froze again. Her mind was racing. She looked down at the stone. She recounted the brown package she received when she was 19. The necklace she held was the same exact color and felt like the same exact weight. In the sharp light of the boutique, she noticed it even had the same tiny dent in it.

She turned around and leaned on the counter. Her attention flew toward the television on the opposite wall. The news channel was on, and they were still freaking out about time travel.

“Crazy,” Gloria said to the TV, shaking her head in disapproval.

“I think it’s great!” the cashier said.

“Really?” Gloria asked, disgusted.

“Definitely,” the cashier said, “I’m going to send my younger self money. Then maybe my life will get better.”

Leannie blinked. The world around her seemed to come to a pause.

She wasn’t one to break rules, let alone break the law. She wasn’t one to engage in risky behavior -- or so she thought. When she looked down at the necklace again, her life flashed before her eyes. However, it wasn’t the life she knew. It was a different life. A life without the album; a life without the Grammys; a life without the screenplays; a life in which she never received the $5,000.

She took a deep breath. She knew what she had to do.