The Ring

The year is 2100 and on a small farm in Pennsylvania lives the Gap family. This estate is situated on a majestic five acre piece of land. On it exists the old barn built by Great-Grandpop George. Anne, the mother, and Jonathan, the father, have a daughter named Carmella who is eleven and a half years old.

Carmella is an adventurous girl and she loves to find new things. She also has red hair that matches her temper perfectly.

Carmella stays home most of the time while her parents go out. During this time she plays on the computer and sometimes gets herself into unexpected predicaments. Due to the latest inventions Carmella has no need to do chores. For examle, food is delivered to houses by computer, when hampers get full washing machines automatically clean clothes, and houses are self-cleaning.

Part 2

It is May 10th, 2100 and there is an exciting party planned for this evening when Carmella's parents arrive at home from work. Carmella and her aunt have made all of the arrangements for this anniversary celebration. This is going to be a surprise party and it will be held in the barn on the Gap estate. All of the food has been ordered through the computer food machine technology and it will be delivered this afternoon.

So far all of the arrangements have been going along smoothly. In the meantime, Carmella has been snooping about her parent's room and has discovered a beautiful gold ring inlaid with precious stones. "This is so pretty," said Carmella. She placed the ring on her finger and walked away thoughtlessly.

At 3:30 the guests began to arrive. She got them settled in the barn, took their coats and offered them something to drink. As the last expected guest arrived Carmella closed the doors to the barn and told the guests to be quiet. Her parents were expected to arrive shortly.

When Anne and Jonathan Gap arrived they found the house to be so quiet that they wondered if something had gone wrong. One thing was different "Where is Carmella?" they wondered. Knowing that she sometimes likes to go to the barn they decided to check there first. As they opened the door to the barn they found it full of family and friends. "Surprise!" they all shouted, "Happy Anniversary!" It was just then that Carmella's father remembered the special gift he bought for his wife. After greeting the guests he returned to the house to get the gift that he left on his bureau. It wasn't there! When he returned to the party Carmella overheard him saying that he couldn't find a ring. "Could this be the ring he is looking for?" she wondered. Looking at her finger she discovered that it wasn't there. "Where has it gone? How could I have lost it?"

Part 3

Carmella now knows that she has to come up with an idea quickly. "How will I find the ring?" she thought. "How will I return it?" Just then the best idea popped into her mind. "I can dress up in a disguise-surely nobody will recognize me then!" said Carmella.

While making sure the guests were comfortable and things were going along smoothly she discreetly looks for the ring. Under the buffet table-not there, behind the gift table-not there, Carmella just couldn't seem to find the ring. "I'll never find it," she mumbled to herself. Just then she was looking over in the hay and spotted something shiny and glittery-the ring!

"I know I can't return it without anyone knowing. I need a really good disguise," thought Carmella. "How about a magic show. I'm sure everyone will enjoy it and they surely won't suspect me of being the magician!"

Then going to her computer she orders the "Professional Magician's Set." It came complete with everything- an outfit, balls, coins, a wand, a top hat, balloons, live chickens and an egg, feathers, scarfs, and everything you need to be an excelent magician.. Within seconds it arrived at her house through the computer transmitter machine and she went to put it on.

In her room she put the magicians outfit on within minutes. The cape was made of beautiful, shiny, purple, silk and on it was colorful sequins. It was so pretty. Then, fastening a fake beard on her face and placing on a pair of old wire-rimmed glasses she was well disguised. Now she was ready to make her debut.

Going out into the barn she sets up a stage, calls for everyone's attention and begins to start. "Good evening ladies and gentlemen, I'm Ferdinand the Fantastic, and this evening I will be performing a magic show for you. Please sit back and enjoy!"

All of the guests at the party enjoyed the fine entertainment provided by Carmella disguised as Ferdinand the Fantastic Magician. Carmella put on many magic tricks. There were coins appearing out of nowhere, she juggled balls, and even swallowed fire! It was truly spectacular.

At last came the finale. Waving her magic wand over the bright, black, top hat, she said the magic words and out came--- the ring! Everyone was amazed. "How could this be?" they all wondered. "Where did this magician come from?"

They were all caught up in the excitement that they didn't realize that the magician had gone. Carmella had sneakily creeped back into the house and quickly takenthe costume-stashing it in the very back of her closet-never to be found again. Then she returned to the party.

When she returned she overheard people saying: "That magician was wonderful! I wonder how he got the ring? Let's go and thank him." They all looked around but the magician was nowhere in sight. "He couldn't have escaped that quickly." All of this happened while Carmella sat quietly eating a piece of cake, amused at how silly her family and other guests were acting.

Part 4

The next day while the Gap family was having breakfast Carmella and her mother were discussing the previous day's events. "Carmella, I want to thank you for the party. "It was a truly memorable event," said Mrs. Gap. Carmella responded, "Sure Mom, I'm glad you liked it." But there was more that Mrs. Gap wanted to find out from Carmella. "Did you enjoy the magic show? I really was amazed at how he swallowed that fire! I wonder where he came from. He seemed to know that the ring was missing." Carmella didn't know what to say.

"Of course I enjoyed the show!" said Carmella. "Well I'm glad that the ring showed up. Dad was really worried about it. There is one thing that I can't figure out. This is really strange and I can't put it together. When I turned around to cut the cake, the magician was gone. There wasn't any sight of a glidercraft, equipment or anything. He came so mysteriously as well." "Maybe he had to run to do another job," suggested Carmella. Just then Mrs. Gap brought the pot of steaming hot oatmeal to the table. They sat and ate it but Carmella could see more sense of persistence in her mother.

After breakfast Carmella retreated to her room. Would she tell her mother? "How can I let her know?" she thought. "I know," said Carmella to herself, "I can put on the magician's outfit and perform some tricks." Carmella dug out the costume that was stashed in the back of her closet and got dressed. "Maybe I should practice," thought Carmella. So she decided to practice some juggling. She kept juggling different things and kept moving to heavier items.

Since she really wanted to impress her parents she decided to juggle bowling balls. She tossed one bowling ball in the air---didn't catch it! Bang! It fell on the ground. The next thing she heard was her parents riding up the electric stairway to see what was the matter. Carmella opened her door and said: "Tarah!"

Her parents were speechless seeing Carmella there in the same cape, top-hat, and glasses that the magician had worn at the party on the previous day! "We--re you the one who put on the magic show?" they asked. "Ye--s," replied Carmella a little apprehensively.

"Wow! You were amazing. Bu--t how did you get all of this stuff? Where did you learn to do these tricks? How did you know the ring was missing? Where did you get it?" Carmella now had a lot to explain. "Well, you see, I found it on Daddy's bureau-I thought it was pretty-it truly was and I couldn't resist. I lost it while I was setting up for the party but then I found it in the hay. Since I didn't want to upset you,I thought I could put on a magic show and make it appear in one of the tricks. I'm really, truly sorry," she said smiling. "You surely went through a lot to return it. You know-you shouldn't have taken the ring. We're glad you finally told us. Perhaps you should be punished."
Carmella was relieved that her parents didn't punish her too harshly, although she spent the next month being deprived of playing on the computer.