 What is the double meaning of the ring’s engraving, “It Is Forever.”
HOMECOMING BY MIGUEL HIDALGO What lasts forever? Nothing lasts forever.... Not even forever [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from Worlds of If Science Fiction, April 1958. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] They had no place in the dust-caked, tired body, yet there they were, seeking, always seeking—searching the clear horizon, and never seeming to find what they sought. Then both man and horse plunged headlong into the waiting torrent, deep into the cool embrace of the clear liquid. They soaked it into their pores and drank deeply of it, feeling life going once more through their veins. Refreshed and momentarily content, he sat staring into the dying fire, seeing the bright glowing coals as living fingers clutching at the wood in consuming embrace, taking all and returning nothing but ashes. Images began to appear, drawn from inexhaustible files, wherein are kept all thoughts, past, present, and future.... World War III had been declared, and he had enlisted, receiving his old rank of captain. "Oh, a ring, and it's a diamond, too!" "It's for you; so long as you wear it, I'll come back, even from the dead, if need be. She held the ring up to the light and read aloud, "It is forever." Then she had slipped the ring on her finger and her arms around him. She took off the locket she wore about her neck and held it up to the shimmering light, letting it spin at the end of its chain. It caught the shadows of the fire and reflected them, greatly magnified, over the room. It was in the shape of a star, encrusted with emeralds, with one large ruby in the center. When he opened it, he found a picture of her in one side, and in the other a picture of the children. Then he kissed her, and instantly was drawn down into the abyss which seemed to have no beginning or any end. His cold fingers found the locket, making a little bulge under his uniform, and the touch of it seemed to warm the blood in his veins. Three days later they had landed in Spain, merged with another division, then crossed the Pyrenees into France, and finally to Paris where the fighting had begun. The Russians had not yet used the H-bomb; the threat of annihilation by the retaliation forces had been too great.
 Forever in marriage; forever after death.
 Forever in marriage; forever after death.  Forever in life; forever undead.  Forever in life; forever in war.  Forever in war; forever after.