The Cursed Belly Ring Part 1

"I really don't see how this is supposed to help me win," She asked the shopkeep. Annette eyed the piece of jewelry before her closely. It was a bellybutton ring of rather ornate design. The stud was silver with a series of dark blue gemstones arranged in the shape of a flower decorating it, with chains of blue gems and silver dangling from it. It was certainly attractive she had to admit, but not enough that it would guarantee her a win.

It was disappointing too, Annette had spent the afternoon seeking out this shop, an old antique store said to specialize in dance wear and other related curiosities. She had hoped to find something that would have given her an edge in an upcoming belly dance contest and while there was certainly a fair number of exotic looking jewelry and fancy scarves to add a little additional flash and dazzle to her ensemble, she hadn't found anything that felt like it would really cinch her a win.

It was at this point the shop's owner, noticed Annette's dissatisfaction and asked if there was anything she could be helped with. Annette wasted no time explaining her situation, informing the woman of the competition, of her rivalry with one of the other dancers and her desire to win. She needed to find some trinket or bauble to help give her an edge in the contest and how nothing in the shop was fancy enough to secure her victory. The woman listened intently and, with a glint of excitement in her eyes, then hurried Annette along towards the back of the store where she presented the young lady with a small box containing a jeweled belly ring. The belly ring was certainly much nicer than anything else Annette haed seen in the shop but ultimately was just a fancy piece of jewelry, not the mind blowing accessory Annette wanted.

"Of course it'd look pretty cute on me but..."

"Ahh, yes, you see, this particular piece of jewelry isn't just some cute bauble it is also... "special" shall we say?"
Annette, sensing a sales pitch rolled her eyes and groaned. "You don't say."

The woman continued without skipping a beat. "With this, you'll be guaranteed to win your competition, for you see, it has magic that, well let's say any woman affected by its power won't be the same!"

"Uh huh, let me guess, wearing it will make you irresistible to any man, make you a total gyration machine on the dance floor, improve your sexual performance, AND make julian style fries?"

The shopkeep narrowed her eyes a little, obviously annoyed at the remark, but retained her composure. "I understand your skepticism but I can assure you I speak the truth. Thanks to its power I was able to win many dance competitions when I was your age. You see, just a little sway of the hips and..." She began to jingle the ring in her hand slightly as if to imitate the motions the ring would make during a dance. As if on command, the stones began to glow and glimmer slightly, much to Annette's surprise.

"Woah," Annette gasped, "how did you do that?"

"I didn't do anything," the woman replied with a wink and a smile.

Annette looked at the belly ring and back at the shopkeep contemplatively. She wasn't a dummy, and there certainly could have been some hidden device in the counter that would shine light on the gems to make them glow and sparkle, but a voice inside herself was convinced, if ever so slightly, that this was genuine.

"All right," she stated at last. "How much for it then?" If nothing else, she reasoned, it would look damn good on her.


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Friday TimesHey there cats and kittens, it's your old pall Axel here with some news and bits for you all!
First up, there's one last day to get your hands on that wallpaper pack I've been offering! 12 noon EST on Jan 1 the wallpaper pack will be going away so be sure to get your order in before then if you're still interested!

Second, don't forget commissions are still open! If you're interested, click the link below to read the rules and find out how to commission art from me!

Third, an apology for the lack of Battle of the Bulges updates this week. I've gotten a bit behind schedule due to some personal life goings on and thus haven't been able to work much on those updates. I'll be using next week to try and get caught up so BotB will be sitting next week out as well. Instead I'll be uploading a bunch of completed commission images and the finished Raffle sketches so there'll defini