Later, Rick came into Jon's shop looking for a Mother's Day gift. He had cooled off a bit by then and wanted to apologize for getting so angry. The first thing that caught his eye was a pair of watches, but his attention was quickly diverted after the owner of the store approached him.
"See anything you like?" Jon asked.
"Well, nothing really in particular. I was just looking for something to give my mom. I've been really crappy towards her lately and I want to give her a really good gift for Mother's Day to make up for it."
"Not getting along?"
"Not really, yeah. I just want something that'll say 'we understand each other', ya know?"
Jon smiled. "I have just the thing for you, then." He walked further back into the store, then came back with a small pinkish stone. It looked like it was made of pink quartz or something.
"What's that? A gem?"
"Oh, it's much more than just a gem. It's called The Gem of Understanding. I know it's not that great of a name, but I assure you. This is exactly the thing for you."
"What does it, uh, do?"
"Well, it causes the person you give it to to become more understanding of the person they think about. Give this to your mother and you won't be getting into any more fights, guaranteed."
"Are you saying that it's really magic?"
"Well, this is a magic shop," Jon said. "Just like the sign says."
"Yeah, I saw the sign. But I just thought ..."
"Yes, yes. I've heard it all before. But it is real, I assure you." He paused. "I'll tell you what. I'll let you have a free one-day trial. If you're not satisfied with it, you can return it, no harm done."
"Oh ... okay."
Jon smiled. "Then it's settled." He gave Rick the pinkish gem and said goodbye.
After Rick left the shop, Jon smiled to himself. The person who possessed the gem would always change to become more understanding of the person they thought about. He had told Rick this. But what Rick failed to understand was that since he now possessed the gem himself (until he gave it to his mother as a gift), he would begin to become more understanding of the person he was thinking of.
And as he walked home, Rick was thinking of ...
