She dropped the blade and jumped away from the counter. This couldn’t be happening. Her scream echoed through the house as her husband ran to her side. What was going on?...CONTINUE READING
Minnie and her husband, Joel, lived off the land as much as their lifestyle would allow. For Minnie and Joel, their “grow what you eat” lifestyle wasn’t a chore; instead, it was a pleasant, relaxing hobby that let them spend quality time with their kids and each other.
But on this fateful day’s fishing haul, the couple caught something that changed everything. Bofin, also known as mud Pike or trash fish, aren’t always a welcome catch for fishermen.
But if someone knew how to cook them properly, they could make quite a tasty meal. They returned home, popping the extra fish in the freezer and leaving two out to prepare for dinner.
Minnie put the fish into the sink and began her cleaning ritual. The first step was to remove the head; then, she had to take out the guts and clean it before scaling. She was just about to slide the knife along its stomach when she felt something strange.
There was a hard lump right in the middle of the body. She checked the fish and knew it wasn’t eggs. But if not that, then what? She had no idea what she might find, but when something shiny came into view, she gasped.
Minnie stared at her hands, still not believing what she was holding. The delicate gold links formed into a necklace with an anchor pendant on the end. This was unbelievable. She grabbed it again and took out the rest of the guts. She traced her finger down along the insides until she spotted where the bump was.
She described to Joel what happened; he was speechless. Then he felt exactly what she did. Joel peered over her shoulder as she pulled back the insides, and a small ball came into view before seeing another and another.
“What the…” Minnie muttered. Minnie uncovered a handful of tiny shiny balls. She and Joel took one between their fingers to examine what it was. “Is it a bead?” Minnie asked. When held into the light, he could hardly believe his eyes. With a shocking realization, Joel declared that they were pearls—real, pure pearls. Minnie’s jaw dropped.
But how did it get in the fish? Bofin are known for not being picky eaters. In fact, they’ll eat anything that moves. This fish must have had a liking for shiny things after eating an oyster or two. Fortunately for the couple, the jewelry found in the fish was in pristine condition, and the pearls—well, one of those could sell for $300 to $1,500.
The couple uploaded their video of the moving fish and posted about their incredible find on social media. It didn’t take long for comments to come pouring in. Most were shocked, and a few even accused them of faking the entire thing.
Joel and Minnie faced a lot of criticism online at first for not trying to find the real owner of the gold necklace. But they tried to explain that it was impossible to find the real owner—the necklace could have fallen anywhere in the water system around the area that the fish would have roamed.
And there was also another problem. Now, one would think that this was the end of their amazing discovery, but over the next few weeks, something nagged at Minnie. They had put some fish in the freezer as well. Would there be anything interesting in those as well?
Minnie might have felt foolish rummaging around in the freezer like a child on a treasure hunt. However, the previous discovery had already been amazing, so why not have a peek?
She sliced open the vacuum-sealed pack, stuck the frozen block of fish into a bowl, and waited for them to defrost. She slid the knife along the belly and poked her fingers inside, hoping to feel something other than squishy guts.
It was a normal fish, just like the hundreds they had caught before. But there were four more to go, and she pounced on them like a gambling addict with a pile of fresh scratch cards.
Nothing. Fourth, nothing. But it was on the fifth fish that her knife hit something solid. Joel’s eyes went as wide as dinner plates when Minnie pulled out another piece of gold, but this one wasn’t a necklace. It was a thick gold ring, like something a man would wear.
Minnie leaned against the counter; her head was already dizzy to the point of pulling her to the floor. This wasn’t just a shiny new find because, as she looked closer, an astounding clue appeared.
With the necklace and pearls, there was no way of knowing who the treasures belonged to. But as Minnie wiped away the icky film, the inside revealed an engraving—two names and a date. This was the breakthrough they needed. The adventure wasn’t over.
It might not have been much, but the new details were far more than what they had started with. There it was, plain as day; this had to be the owner of the lost wedding band. Minnie thanked the internet gods they had a social media page.
It was a stream of photos, mostly grandkids and silly jokes, but there was no mention of a lost wedding band. Maybe that was because the couple had lost it so long ago. They waited with bated breath to see those three little dots appear—a sign that someone was writing back.
Minnie’s head dipped towards the table over and over as she willed herself to stay awake. Finally, she heard the ding they had been longing for.
“Yes, we lost a wedding band, but that was years ago. Who is this?”
The stars aligned. Minnie squealed loudly, waking Joel up with such a start that his chair folded like a mousetrap from under him. Before they could move forward, both Minnie and her husband had made one simple rule.
She introduced herself, mentioning that their family were fishing fanatics. They had stumbled across the ring, but could the person or people on the other end describe it accurately? They weren’t about to accidentally give someone else’s wedding memento to a complete stranger.
The dots appeared again, and the next message made Minnie want to cry.
“Yes, it’s them. Yes, it’s them.”
They described it perfectly, right down to the use of Jimmy instead of James. They had found the owner of the ring, but the best part was yet to come. The family piled into their minivan and made the three-trip north to where the couple was waiting.
An old man and woman stood on the porch, holding hands, their faces bright with excitement. The couple had been taking a walk along a pier one day. Minnie wasn’t sure how, but a small pouch of jewelry had fallen out of her purse—things she had wanted to take to the jeweler to get cleaned. It must have been taken by the waves and washed away.
Minnie and Joel’s eyes turned wide as the couple showed them photos of the wedding bands and a gold necklace with an anchor pendant. But the old couple was about to do something extra special.
“We want you to keep the necklace,” they said, as a thank you for reuniting them with the long-lost ring and to have something as a memory for this unbelievable meeting.
Even after a cup of tea and then returning home, Minnie and Joel’s smiles didn’t fade. But this wasn’t the first time a fish has been found sporting a wedding band…CONTINUE READING>>
