What Happened

I knew that diamond meant trouble.  I knew I shouldn't have gone to the duck pond.  I can't believe I was so stupid.  And I'm never going to be that stupid again.
I went to the duck pond, and for a while, everything seemed fine.  And then this woman came walking up the path.  I was a little leery.  I mean, the last time a woman came walking around the duck pond I ended up with a curse.  But she didn't seem too interested in me, and I tried to ignore her.  It looked like she was meeting her boyfriend, and they hung out behind me for a little while.  There was something off about the man, though.  At first I couldn't really place it, but I felt like I recognized him.  I kept trying to get a good look at him over my shoulder, but the woman was always in the way.  Finally I just decided that if they were making me uncomfortable, I would just leave.  Of course, I was dumb enough to try to walk past them to see if I could get a better look at the man.
It was Descartes.
I gasped, and a single ruby fell.
It was enough for them.  Decartes lunged at me, and I felt something prick my arm.  He'd brought a tranquilizer.  I was out in seconds.

Not all that glitters is gold.
Ruby