The Rings of Power

Once there were two children - a brother and a sister. And they were each given a ring - a Moonstone for the sister, and a Sunstone for the brother. The Moonstone was said to give power over the night, and the Sunstone over the day. And so whoever had both the Sun and the Moonstone rings, could then rule both the day and the night.

So one day the brother said 'Oh sister, why not give me the moonstone ring, then I will have control of the dark and the light. All things would be in my power, and, of course, I would use that to make sure my dear and generous sister did not lack for anything. And you know that I am strong and dependable.'

And the sister said 'Oh brother, perhaps it would be best if you gave me the Sunstone ring. For then I would be able to move through both the night and day. And you know that nothing can surpass my love for my brother, so I would always take care of you.'

But neither were moved by the eloquent arguments of the other, and so they each kept their rings.

But each still wondered about the power of the other. The brother was curious how it would feel to move through the darkness of the night, without the clear bright light of day to see by, and the sister wanted to experience power without the blanket of the darkness around her.

So one day the brother suggested 'My dear sister, since we can't decide to give both these rings to either one of us, how about we swap with each other for a day and a night?' The sister thought, and then said 'Why not, my brother?'

But what she was actually thinking was that when the rings were exchanged, there could be a moment when she was holding both, and so just for a moment, she would know what it was like to have both powers. And maybe then she would think of a way to persuade her brother to let her keep both rings.

Now the brother was thinking along similar lines, and thinking that with both rings, even just for a moment, he would be able to so impress his sister with his powers that she would want him to keep both rings forever.

So they met over the sea at dawn, and the bother held his ring in his fingertips, and reached around the world to where it was still night, and the sister put her ring on the very end of her finger, and stretched towards her brother into the day. And the brother was thinking about how he must now come up with something really impressive to do, and the sister was thinking about how to get both rings into her hand. And as they were distracted by their thoughts, the Moonstone ring began to slip off the end of the sister's finger. Seeing this, the brother lunged forward to catch it, but as he did so, he let go of his own ring. Seeing this, his sister leant forward to help, and as they both fumbled, the two rings fell far, far into the ocean below.

And as the rings sank out of reach, they looked into each others eyes and wept, and their glittering tears fell after the rings into the sea.

'Oh my sister, how can you ever forgive me? This is all my fault - if only I had been happy with my own ring, I would never have suggested we try and swap. And now because of me, your ring is lost forever!'

The sister looked at her brother so filled with sadness, and after a while she spoke. 'Well my brother, I must tell you something. I swore I would never tell you this, but now I feel I must... That ring didn't really give me any power, but when I saw how pleased you were with your ring when you were given it, I didn't want you to feel sorry for me. So I let you believe that the Moonstone was as powerful as your Sunstone, but just in a way so different that you would never be able to understand it, because truly, I could not explain it to you.'

But her brother just looked even more unhappy, so she took his hand, and waited in silence for him to speak.

And eventually he confessed to her: 'Oh my sister, I must tell you something too... When I was given the Sunstone, I felt sad because it didn't really give me any power. But I thought you would think less of me if my ring was just a ring, so I let you believe it had a special power, that was difficult to explain because it was just so different from your own.'

And the brother and the sister looked down at the sea below, and looked up at each other, and their tears turned into laughter. For they had lost just their rings, but they had found honesty in each other.

And often to this day, when the day and the night meet at dawn over the ocean, they come together again and laugh, and you can hear their laughter on the breeze. And they think of their foolishness and greed, and the beauty of their lost rings, and they weep, and you can taste the salt of their tears in the sea.

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