Trading in metal rings

There was a father who took his daughter to the playground at the nearby park one day. The daughter found a metal ring with a plastic rhinestone in the pebbly ground near the slides. Excited at her discovery, she ran to her father and shouted, "Daddy, look what I found! It's so beautiful! I love it!" The father smiled and said that it was indeed pretty but maybe she should just leave it at the playground. She begged to keep it, saying that she loved it so much. The daughter put it on and refused to take it off.

She wore the ring for days and proudly took care of it. Soon, however, the metal of the ring began leaving an ugly green stain around her finger. Still, she adored the shiny metal band and the sparkle of the plastic rhinestone and thus the ring remained on day and night, as did the stain.

Finally, her father went into her room one night to tuck her in. He asked her, "Do you love me, honey?"

And she replied, "Of course, Daddy!"

He asked her, "How much do you love me?"

"More than anyone else in the whole wide world!" she smiled.

"More than anything too?" he asked.

"Yep. You're the best daddy ever."

He smiled and added, "And you know I love you too, right? More than anyone or anything."

The little girl nodded.

The father then took her hands and said, "Sweetie, do you love me enough to give me your ring?"

The girl's smile flattened out and she looked confused and worried. "But Daddy," she started saying in a quiet voice, "I love my ring too..."

Her father nodded and said, "It's okay, honey. I understand." The girl nodded again, this time slowly and sadly, and the father kissed her forehead, tucked her in, and wished her a good night.

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The following night, he asked her again if she loved him and the girl excitedly replied, "Yes!"

"Do you love me enough to give me your ring?" he inquired.

The girl got upset again and stated that her ring was pretty and she liked it on her hand. "Plus, Daddy, you wouldn't like it anyways!" The father nodded and said he understood. Again, he kissed her forehead, tucked her in, and wished her a good night.

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By the third night, the little girl's smile left her face as her father started to ask her if she loved him. She quickly answered, "Daddy, you know I love you! I just want my ring too."

The father said, "I know you love your ring, sweetie. I just want to know if you love me enough to give the ring to Daddy."

This time, the girl thought about it for a long time as her tears streamed down her small face. Finally the daughter said, "Okay, Daddy. You can have my ring. Please take care of it though. It's so pretty and I love it."

As she took off her ring, he held out his left palm to take it. With his right hand, he pulled out a small box and placed it into the little girl's now-bare hand. The girl, with tears still trickling down her cheeks and nose still sniffling, took the box and opened it. As she did, her eyes grew wide and a large smile came to her face. For inside the small box was a real ring -- a silver one with a real gem in it that shined and sparkled far more greatly than the one that was now in her father's palm.

"Daddy, thank you so much! I love it and I love you!" the little girl squealed with excitement. "It's so much prettier than my other one!"

The father smiled with joy as he took the ring and placed it on the girl's tiny finger. He told her that the green mark from the metal ring will soon fade and that her new ring will not leave any stains on her hands because it was made especially for her delicate fingers with good material.

The girl, now tearing from excitement and joy, hugged her father tightly.

"Didn't I tell you," he whispered in her ear, "that I love you more than anyone or anything. I will always take care of you and give you better than the best."

The little girl kissed her father on the cheek and crawled back under her covers. He kissed her forehead, tucked her in, and wished her a good night.