“Pretty sneaky, Sam,” said Nipper, inspecting the scorpion ring.

Samantha walked ahead of her brother as they crossed through their backyard. She wore a satisfied smile on her face.

“I’m going to destroy this thing,” said Nipper. “I’m going to put an end to this evil curse.”

Samantha stopped walking and turned around. Nipper was holding the ring right over his ring finger. He seemed to be trying really hard to stop himself from putting it on.

“Come on, Nipper,” she said. “You know evil magical curses aren’t real, don’t you?”

“No…I mean, yes. I don’t…,” he answered. “I mean no, I do, Sam.”

She shook her head. “I’m getting tired of saying it,” she told him. “But you’re ridiculous…and annoying…and there’s no such thing as a magical cursed ring.”

“Oh yeah?” asked Nipper. “Then how do you explain the fact that it blinks?”

He held out his open palm with the scorpion ring in the center. She studied it for a second.

“Watch,” she answered, taking it from him.

She held up the ring and slowly tilted it. The scorpion blinked. Then she rotated her hand slightly. The ring caught the light again and it flashed green once more.

“See?” she told him. “It just reflects light at different angles.”

Nipper watched as she kept turning her hand. The ring flashed a few more times.

“Okay, Sam,” he said. “Then how do you explain all the bumps and trips and stumbles that happened to me when I wore it?”

“Are your shoelaces tied?” she asked.

“Well…no,” he replied, glancing down at his feet.

“Do you ever watch where you’re going?” she asked. “Or look at what you’re about to step on?”

“Not really,” Nipper answered.

“Do you pay attention to your surroundings?” she continued. “Do you take a closer look at things before you touch or tap or poke or taste—”

“Okay, okay,” he said, snatching the ring back from her. “Just forget about it.”

They had reached the side of their house. Samantha stopped on the porch. She didn’t open the door.

“I’m not forgetting everything,” she said.

“What do you mean?” asked Nipper.

“I’m not forgetting what you promised,” she said. “You said that if I helped you, you’d tell me the secret of the plaid.”

“Oh yeah. You’re right,” said Nipper. “I almost forgot.”

He shoved the ring into his pocket.

“Come with me,” he said. “It’ll bring back some memories.”

Samantha followed her brother into the house and up to his bedroom, where she had a lot of good memories….And some others she would gladly forget.