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- Story Listed as: Fiction For Adults
- Theme: Fairy Tales & Fantasy
- Subject: Miracles / Wonders
- Published: 06/05/2020
It was shiny. Copper shouldn’t shine like that. It actually glittered. That is why it caught my eye. I bent down and picked it up. It was a Penny. I have seen brand new Pennies before, and they are quite bright. But not like this one. This one reminded you of a diamond, not a copper coin.
I looked at it. It looked back. I swear it did. I don’t know how a Penny can “look” but that is what it felt like. Then I noticed that the face on the Penny wasn’t any ex-President, Indian Head, or Wheat Sheaf. It was the portrait of a girl. One that I have never seen. On the back was tiny writing…very tiny.
The more I looked at the tiny writing, the bigger it became. It told me to go look for the face on the Penny. It told me where I might find her. So I went and looked for her.
I found her, head bowed, a little puddle of tears on the table under her head. She never noticed me coming over to where she was sitting. I tapped lightly on the table top.
“Excuse me, Miss. Are you okay?”
She looked up at me with a look that switched from someone deep in thought being interrupted to one of…well…hope.
“I am having a bad day. If that means anything to you.”
I sat down. I took her hand in mine. Her fingers closed on mine almost against their will. It caused me to look down at our hands, and her to do the same. Like we were watching ducks swim in a pond. No real concern for anything, just wondering what they were doing.
She looked back up at me - my look back was one guaranteeing safety.
“Tell me about it. Sometimes it helps to just have someone to talk to.”
She squeezed my hand (I don’t think she was even aware she did that).
“Okay.”
When she was done, a little over a half hour later. My eyes were shiny with barely held back tears. She didn’t tell me a story about a bad day, she told me a story about a worse life. What brought her to that table to bow her head and cry, would have brought me to my knees with thoughts of just ending it all.
I am not as strong as she is.
My thumb kept making small circles on the back of her palm. Her hand kept squeezing mine in a series of mini hugs. We both sat in the silence as our eyes dried slowly and our connection grew.
“Why did you come to my table? Who are you? What do you care?”
I debated only for a second.
I took the Penny out and placed it between us on the table.
“Ohh…that is pretty.”
“Pick it up. Take a good look.”
She did.
Her face went into shock. She saw her portrait on the front of the bright shiny Penny. She looked down at it, up at me, and back down again. Over and over for more than a minute.
“Wha…wha…uh…what?”
I merely nodded.
“Turn it over.”
Just like when I picked up the Penny, there was tiny writing on the back. Very tiny. Even from the other side of the table, I could see it wasn’t the same style or form of writing I read when I picked up the Penny.
Just like I did. She brought the Penny close to her face. As she did, I could see her lips moving silently as she read whatever was written on the back of the Penny.
The tears started up again. This time flowing down to dribble like frosting over a smile that didn’t sparkle like the Penny did…no, her smile beamed at me. Like a sunrise over the open ocean…it took my breath away.
We never figured it out. We made a necklace out of the Penny. She wore it on a plain chain around her neck. We named our first child: Penny.
*****
On a Park Bench in a crowded metropolitan city an old man noticed something shiny among the pigeons he was feeding. It looked like a brand new Penny.
“Pennies shouldn’t shine like that, even those new fangled super thin alloys they use now aren’t that shiny.”
The old man spoke out loud, as he often did, unaware that anyone was listening. After all, there wasn’t anyone at home to hear him anymore.
“What penny?”
The old man looked up. A woman maybe five years younger than himself was looking at him with curiosity, a smile that was as gentle as her voice was on her face.
“That one.”
He used his cane to shoo away the pigeons…pointing with the rubber tip on his cane at the sparkling penny laying on the cold cement.
“Ohh… that is pretty!”
The woman was still fairly agile. She placed one hand on the old man’s knee to balance herself (the old man loved that simple touch) then she reached down and plucked the penny from the ground. She gave it a quick wipe on her skirt (it was in the middle of a bunch of pigeons after all).
When she pulled it closer to her face to look at it…her eyes widened, her breathing stopped, her purse fell from fingers numbed by shock.
She plopped down heavily next to the old man on the bench. Her knees, like her mind, having given out.
It was as natural as any gesture the old man ever made. He just placed his one arm around the woman, bringing her head to his shoulder. She didn’t resist but snuggled right into the space between his open coat and his neck.
“Now now dear. It is going to be just fine. Just fine.“
She didn’t say a word. She stayed snuggled into his neck. Liking the smell of him, the maleness of his awkward embrace, and the light weight of his cheek against the top of her head. She snuggled a little closer.
“Are you okay? What happened? Do you need medicine, or a Doctor?”
His voice was colored with concern that only a long life with children, a wife, and close family ties make a natural tone. Even though all of those ties were closed by time and death.
She didn’t say a word. She just held the Penny up for him to see.
He took it in his hand. Peered at it.
“Oh my. Oh my. Oh…my…my…my.”
She snuggled in closer. His arm pulled her in a bit tighter, his cheeks pressed a little more against the top of her head.
His hand holding the Penny dropped to his thigh to be joined by her free hand to wrap around both the penny and the old man’s hand.
A passing young couple smiled at the old people sitting so sweetly on a bench with their eyes closed, unable to see the shiny penny with a portrait of an old man and an elderly elegant woman sitting together on a park bench on its front side, and a promise written on its flip side.
*****
She was the only black girl in the entire school. She hated leaving her old school in the inner city to come live out here in the Suburbs. She was glad that her Dad and Mom got promotions that let them afford a much prettier house, with her own room too! But she didn’t fit in. She was different. Alone.
She saw something in the gravel under the swing set. It was a penny. A shiny penny. No penny should shine like that, the copper reminded her of her Mother’s diamond engagement ring, not a penny.
She picked it up. She almost dropped it. There was a boy’s portrait where the President’s face should have been. He was a cute boy too. A bit lanky looking, but she could see the twinkle in his eyes and the ready to laugh look on his lips. He looked like he would be fun, interesting, and kind.
“What you got there?”
She looked up from the swing. This time she did drop the penny.
It was HIM. The boy on the Penny. He was lanky, had a twinkle in his eye, and a ready smile on his face. He was six inches taller than her own five foot six inches, and he seemed to be about her age…sixteen, maybe seventeen at the outside.
He bent over to pick up the penny. With a quirky “What’s going on?” look at her, he flipped the penny over to see what was on the front of it.
“Ohh…oh. Like…wow.”
On the penny was his own face. His forehead knitted into furrows of concentration. He turned it over to read the back. Then he laughed. A lovely light hearted, kind laugh.
She couldn’t help it. She laughed too.
He reached down with his hand to pull her up off the swing. She let him…and didn’t let go of his hand when she stood up. Not that he was eager to let go.
“You know what this means…don’t you?”
“No. Do you?”
He laughed again. So did she. Laughter, it seemed to her, was a natural byproduct of being around this guy.
“It means we are going together to the Fall Formal!”
He spun her around like you see in those old fashioned black and white movies from the forties. The penny held tightly between their two gleeful hands.
“I hope your parents don’t care that I am a red head.”
She laughed out loud.
Pennies from Heaven.(Kevin Hughes)
It was shiny. Copper shouldn’t shine like that. It actually glittered. That is why it caught my eye. I bent down and picked it up. It was a Penny. I have seen brand new Pennies before, and they are quite bright. But not like this one. This one reminded you of a diamond, not a copper coin.
I looked at it. It looked back. I swear it did. I don’t know how a Penny can “look” but that is what it felt like. Then I noticed that the face on the Penny wasn’t any ex-President, Indian Head, or Wheat Sheaf. It was the portrait of a girl. One that I have never seen. On the back was tiny writing…very tiny.
The more I looked at the tiny writing, the bigger it became. It told me to go look for the face on the Penny. It told me where I might find her. So I went and looked for her.
I found her, head bowed, a little puddle of tears on the table under her head. She never noticed me coming over to where she was sitting. I tapped lightly on the table top.
“Excuse me, Miss. Are you okay?”
She looked up at me with a look that switched from someone deep in thought being interrupted to one of…well…hope.
“I am having a bad day. If that means anything to you.”
I sat down. I took her hand in mine. Her fingers closed on mine almost against their will. It caused me to look down at our hands, and her to do the same. Like we were watching ducks swim in a pond. No real concern for anything, just wondering what they were doing.
She looked back up at me - my look back was one guaranteeing safety.
“Tell me about it. Sometimes it helps to just have someone to talk to.”
She squeezed my hand (I don’t think she was even aware she did that).
“Okay.”
When she was done, a little over a half hour later. My eyes were shiny with barely held back tears. She didn’t tell me a story about a bad day, she told me a story about a worse life. What brought her to that table to bow her head and cry, would have brought me to my knees with thoughts of just ending it all.
I am not as strong as she is.
My thumb kept making small circles on the back of her palm. Her hand kept squeezing mine in a series of mini hugs. We both sat in the silence as our eyes dried slowly and our connection grew.
“Why did you come to my table? Who are you? What do you care?”
I debated only for a second.
I took the Penny out and placed it between us on the table.
“Ohh…that is pretty.”
“Pick it up. Take a good look.”
She did.
Her face went into shock. She saw her portrait on the front of the bright shiny Penny. She looked down at it, up at me, and back down again. Over and over for more than a minute.
“Wha…wha…uh…what?”
I merely nodded.
“Turn it over.”
Just like when I picked up the Penny, there was tiny writing on the back. Very tiny. Even from the other side of the table, I could see it wasn’t the same style or form of writing I read when I picked up the Penny.
Just like I did. She brought the Penny close to her face. As she did, I could see her lips moving silently as she read whatever was written on the back of the Penny.
The tears started up again. This time flowing down to dribble like frosting over a smile that didn’t sparkle like the Penny did…no, her smile beamed at me. Like a sunrise over the open ocean…it took my breath away.
We never figured it out. We made a necklace out of the Penny. She wore it on a plain chain around her neck. We named our first child: Penny.
*****
On a Park Bench in a crowded metropolitan city an old man noticed something shiny among the pigeons he was feeding. It looked like a brand new Penny.
“Pennies shouldn’t shine like that, even those new fangled super thin alloys they use now aren’t that shiny.”
The old man spoke out loud, as he often did, unaware that anyone was listening. After all, there wasn’t anyone at home to hear him anymore.
“What penny?”
The old man looked up. A woman maybe five years younger than himself was looking at him with curiosity, a smile that was as gentle as her voice was on her face.
“That one.”
He used his cane to shoo away the pigeons…pointing with the rubber tip on his cane at the sparkling penny laying on the cold cement.
“Ohh… that is pretty!”
The woman was still fairly agile. She placed one hand on the old man’s knee to balance herself (the old man loved that simple touch) then she reached down and plucked the penny from the ground. She gave it a quick wipe on her skirt (it was in the middle of a bunch of pigeons after all).
When she pulled it closer to her face to look at it…her eyes widened, her breathing stopped, her purse fell from fingers numbed by shock.
She plopped down heavily next to the old man on the bench. Her knees, like her mind, having given out.
It was as natural as any gesture the old man ever made. He just placed his one arm around the woman, bringing her head to his shoulder. She didn’t resist but snuggled right into the space between his open coat and his neck.
“Now now dear. It is going to be just fine. Just fine.“
She didn’t say a word. She stayed snuggled into his neck. Liking the smell of him, the maleness of his awkward embrace, and the light weight of his cheek against the top of her head. She snuggled a little closer.
“Are you okay? What happened? Do you need medicine, or a Doctor?”
His voice was colored with concern that only a long life with children, a wife, and close family ties make a natural tone. Even though all of those ties were closed by time and death.
She didn’t say a word. She just held the Penny up for him to see.
He took it in his hand. Peered at it.
“Oh my. Oh my. Oh…my…my…my.”
She snuggled in closer. His arm pulled her in a bit tighter, his cheeks pressed a little more against the top of her head.
His hand holding the Penny dropped to his thigh to be joined by her free hand to wrap around both the penny and the old man’s hand.
A passing young couple smiled at the old people sitting so sweetly on a bench with their eyes closed, unable to see the shiny penny with a portrait of an old man and an elderly elegant woman sitting together on a park bench on its front side, and a promise written on its flip side.
*****
She was the only black girl in the entire school. She hated leaving her old school in the inner city to come live out here in the Suburbs. She was glad that her Dad and Mom got promotions that let them afford a much prettier house, with her own room too! But she didn’t fit in. She was different. Alone.
She saw something in the gravel under the swing set. It was a penny. A shiny penny. No penny should shine like that, the copper reminded her of her Mother’s diamond engagement ring, not a penny.
She picked it up. She almost dropped it. There was a boy’s portrait where the President’s face should have been. He was a cute boy too. A bit lanky looking, but she could see the twinkle in his eyes and the ready to laugh look on his lips. He looked like he would be fun, interesting, and kind.
“What you got there?”
She looked up from the swing. This time she did drop the penny.
It was HIM. The boy on the Penny. He was lanky, had a twinkle in his eye, and a ready smile on his face. He was six inches taller than her own five foot six inches, and he seemed to be about her age…sixteen, maybe seventeen at the outside.
He bent over to pick up the penny. With a quirky “What’s going on?” look at her, he flipped the penny over to see what was on the front of it.
“Ohh…oh. Like…wow.”
On the penny was his own face. His forehead knitted into furrows of concentration. He turned it over to read the back. Then he laughed. A lovely light hearted, kind laugh.
She couldn’t help it. She laughed too.
He reached down with his hand to pull her up off the swing. She let him…and didn’t let go of his hand when she stood up. Not that he was eager to let go.
“You know what this means…don’t you?”
“No. Do you?”
He laughed again. So did she. Laughter, it seemed to her, was a natural byproduct of being around this guy.
“It means we are going together to the Fall Formal!”
He spun her around like you see in those old fashioned black and white movies from the forties. The penny held tightly between their two gleeful hands.
“I hope your parents don’t care that I am a red head.”
She laughed out loud.
Shelly Garrod
11/09/2022That is a lovely story Kevin. A previous Penny indeed.
Blessings Shelly
Help Us Understand What's Happening
Help Us Understand What's Happening
Shelly Garrod
11/10/2022I truly enjoy reading your stories Kevin. Your writing is very creative. Your imagination and ideas for your stories intriques me and I'm drawn to read more. I may not read all thousand of them, but I do enjoy your stories and writing style.
Blessings Shelly
Help Us Understand What's Happening
Kevin Hughes
11/10/2022Aloha Shelly,
I am amazed that you are working through all of my old Stories. There are more than a thousand of them on Story Star. I wouldn't even read that many. LOL. Thanks for your kind remarks on them. Smiles, Kevin
Help Us Understand What's Happening
Help Us Understand What's Happening
Kevin Hughes
06/07/2020Thanks Aziz!
We have an old saying in the USA: " A penny for your thoughts." So that is where the idea for this story came from! Smiles, Kevin
Help Us Understand What's Happening
Darlington Chukwunyere
06/05/2020I just want to wake up with some heavenly penny under my pillow (smiles).
ReplyHelp Us Understand What's Happening
Kevin Hughes
06/05/2020Aloha Darlington,
I do hope you and your family are all healthy and safe. And I do hope that Penny shows up in your life too!
Smiles, Kevin
Help Us Understand What's Happening
JD
06/05/2020What a sparkling penny from heaven your story is, Kevin! Thank you for the warmth in my heart and the smile on my lips that I am enjoying right now.... :-)
ReplyHelp Us Understand What's Happening
Help Us Understand What's Happening
Kevin Hughes
06/05/2020Hey Jd,
First, thanks for putting up a much better picture for me! Second, I love to see smiling lips...that was the goal. Enough bad stuff is floating around that we need some bubbles of love!
Thanks for your support! Smiles, Kevin
Help Us Understand What's Happening
Martha Huett
06/05/2020That was very sweet, Kevin. Some happy love to cheer one's day. Thanks! :)
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COMMENTS (5)