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I'm nearly at the end of my story, and I'm struggling to finish it. Ashley (male) and Anna were best friends since childhood, until they grew apart and didn't talk to each other for many years. When they are both in their thirties, they meet again and go on a trip to Ireland together, initially hesitant but gradually getting to know one another again, solidifying a new friendship.
At the end, I want Ashley to present Anna with a gift that symbolises their new friendship, but I'm absolutely stuck for ideas. Their relationship isn't romantic, so something lovey-dovey isn't appropriate. It should be something meaningful.
How could I make this gift symbolise their new friendship in a way the reader can understand? What techniques could I use to bind one item to this meaning or to any symbolism in a story?
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When you want to use a gift as a symbol, then it should be an object that has meaning to the protagonists.
It only has meaning to the protagonists when it has meaning to your story. You should have introduced it during your story, the protagonists used/handled/interacted with it somehow.
If it has meaning to the story, the reader understands the symbol automatically.
The symbol does not need to be something fancy. It just must be special to Ashley and Anna.
Even a rusty nail would serve. If Ashley stepped into it during the story and Anna removed the nail, cleaned and dressed the wound, that nail could become a symbol of their friendship.
Ashley could say "Thank you", Anna shrugs and says "That's what friends do". Then you have linked the rusty nail to their friendship. And the reader would understand the symbol when the rusty nail is the gift at the end of your story.
Beyond John Smithers's excellent answer...
If you don't have the proverbial thorn for Androcles to remove from the lion's paw, you can choose something which is symbolic in general, so people immediately understand what it means.
For example, if A presents B with a diamond ring, and B wears it on the left ring finger, in most of the western world that's an engagement ring. A claddagh ring (two hands clasping a heart) is often given as a friendship ring, which would work well here.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claddagh_ring#Usage_and_symbolism
Similarly, if you want to emphasize their interconnectedness in the story (destiny, the idea of soulmates, the idea that they will always be joined, reincarnation, etc.) you could try an Ourobouros (snake eating its own tail) or a ring with Celtic knotwork all around, so that the design is infinitely intertwined.
(Those three are also all Irish/Gaelic/Celtic in origin, I believe, so they'll dovetail with your setting. But you could tweak it for any location.)
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