I could not believe I had been away on a work trip for so long. I couldn’t wait to surprise Ben by getting home early. But when I pulled into the driveway, I saw that something wasn’t right. There was silence in the house, and the blinds were closed. I opened the door and called out to Ben, but he didn’t answer.
When I got to the backyard, I saw something very strange. In our vegetable yard, Ben was digging a hole. His shirt was wet with sweat, and he had his eyes on the ground the whole time. But it was the big, black obsidian egg sitting next to him that made my heart skip a beat.
As my mind raced, I tried to make sense of what I saw. Ben’s actions were all over the place, and he looked scared when he saw me. He wouldn’t tell me what was going on and instead tried to lead me back inside. It was important to me to find out what was going on.
I couldn’t get rid of the feeling that something was very wrong as the night went on. I thought I was losing my grip on reality because Ben’s behaviour was getting stranger and stranger. I didn’t find out the truth until the next morning, when I chose to do something about it myself.
When I uncovered the egg, I was shocked to find that it was empty. What I saw inside, though, was what really chilled me. A huge scheme to fake antiques, including black egg-shaped containers, was being sold to people who didn’t know any better, according to a radio story.
Some of the pieces began to fit together. They tricked Ben into giving them a lot of money, which we had saved. I was angry, sad, and disappointed, among other things. But when I looked at Ben, I saw that he felt bad about what he did and chose to forgive him.
When we got together to talk, Ben told me how the scam had fooled him. He was going to surprise me with a rare object, but he lost our money instead. I tried to understand as I listened, and as we talked, I realised this was a chance for us to get closer.
The two of us agreed to call the cops and work together to get our money back. I knew that our marriage was stronger than any scam or money loss as we sat in the kitchen holding hands. Everything was fine because we had each other.
I smiled as I looked at the egg, which was now a sign of our trip. It would be planted in the garden next to the tomatoes to remember us how important it is for us to trust each other and talk to each other. I was sure that our love would keep growing, stronger and more durable than ever as time went on.
