Hannah’s Ring A to Z Blogging Challenge

Blogging from A to Z Challenge
April 2015
This month I will be participating in the “Blogging from A-Z Challenge”

What is it?

I will be Blogging everyday beginning on April First with a topic themed on something with the letterA, then on April second another topic with the letter B as the theme, and so on until I finish on April thirtieth with the theme based on the letter Z.   The theme of the day is the letter scheduled for that day.

My theme will be short fictional (well mostly fictional) stories about women.  Each woman’s name will begin with the appropriate letter of the alphabet for that day.
All of the women will have the common life experience of a loss of some type.
I invite you, Dear reader, to comment on how you interpret the loss.

Hannah

She loved to browse.  Wherever she was, Hanna managed to fit in a bit of browsing.   
Yes, Hannah was serious about her browsing.  
That’s how she spent most weekends.  
She found that the best browsing she did was at the local Saturday morning flea market.  
To be one of the first browsers you had to be one of the first cars at the gate. 
Hannah had the routine down pat.  She would be up and out by 4:00 a.m.  After a stop at her neighborhood convenience store for coffee and a chocolate cream filled donut, she would arrive at the market early to wait in line with the other cars. 
The cars began to gather at 5:00 to form snaked lanes between barriers of orange cones.
While she waited, bundled up in a cozy knitted hat, scarf  and mittens, she would drowsily try to stay awake.
When the sun came up, the wait was over.  Vendors and dealers were directed to the left, shoppers to the right. 
Zelda’s booth was always Hannah’s first stop. 
Zelda was a seasoned flea market dealer.  Her steel gay hair was long and fell all the way down to the middle of her back.   She wore blue eye shadow and blood red lipstick. 
She spoke with a heavy Eastern European accent. 
Even after many years of residing in the US and eventually becoming a citizen, she often spoke nostalgically about the good old days back home.
“Oh, the beef was delicious. Not like here,” she would say.   
Zelda had the most interesting items and a story to go along with each of her oddities.
Hannah spotted the ring in a tightly packed jewelry case.  It lay, scarcely noticeable, nearly buried among a cache of other treasures.
She was strangely and immediately drawn to it.  
Zelda was busily unloading her old green van.  She looked up when Hannah said, “Excuse me, Zelda.”  
“Would you mind showing me that ring, please?” asked Hannah, pointing at the case.
Without hesitation Zelda picked up the very ring that Hannah was asking about.  
There were many rings in the case.  Hannah wondered how Zelda knew which one she meant.
The ring was crafted in pink gold.  Tiny white sparkling stones surrounded a square cut ruby red gem.
Hannah held out her right hand, but Zelda shook her head,  picked up Hanna’s left hand and slipped the band on Hannah’s ring finger. 
The metal felt soft and silky against her skin.  It was just the right size, a perfect fit.
She had a strong sensation that somehow this ring belonged to her. 
She shivered, but not from the cold. 
“What do you know about this ring?” Hannah asked?
Zelda told Hannah that she acquired the ring from a woman who was visiting from out of town.
“This woman,” Zelda said, “she could be your sister.”
“She looked much like you do.” 
Astonished, Hannah backed away from the table staring at the ring.
“It is bashert that you have this ring,” Zelda said.
“Bashert?"  asked Hannah. 
“Yes, bashert,” said Zelda.  “An old yiddish word.”
"It is your destiny that this should happen,” Zelda explained. 
Hannah, who usually loved lively bargaining, especially with Zelda, knew she was going to buy this ring, no matter what the cost. 
Zelda sat down on the stool she kept behind her table.   She picked up a red and white polka dotted kerchief, or babushka, as Zelda called it, and tied it around her hair.  This gesture signified to everyone that Zelda was ready and open for business. 
As Hannah walked away with the ring,  a crowd of other browsers began to gather around Zelda’s wares. 

See Eve Lynn and Francine Elizabeth for perhaps the prequels to this story?
And stay tuned for possible sequels.☺