The Magic Nickel

One day, not so long ago, when I was out playing with my dog Ruff, I met a very old woman. She looked very tired and poor. Her clothes were worn and kind of ragged. Her shoes had holes in them. She wore an old straw hat that was coming apart. Ruff began sniffing at the hem of her skirt. She looked at me with a smile and said, "Excuse me son, could you give me change for my nickel?" Now I didn't want to hurt her feelings by just giving her my five pennies I had stored in my shoe, so I said, "Just a minute and I will see if I have change for you." I was poor too and I knew that she was probably too proud to just take my pennies without giving me her nickel, so I said "Here you go, handing her my five pennies. She handed me her nickel ever so carefully. Then she looked at me again and said,"How old are you son?" I answered, "Ten years old ma'am." She smiled at me again and I noticed that one front tooth was missing. She said to me, "Since you were kind enough to make change for my nickel, I have a secret to tell you. The nickel I gave you is magic, and no matter what you spend it on, it will return to you so you can spend it again." I kind of giggled and said thank you, not taking too much stock in what she said. A couple of blocks away was a small grocery store, so I thought I would try it out. I walked in and bought some nickel candy. Sure enough when I looked inside my shoe, there was the same magic nickel just waiting to be spent again! I was thrilled to have a real magic nickel. I was pretty much a loner and I didn't have anyone to share my good news with except Ruff, who would rather chase Midnight, our neighbors black cat, down the street than pay much attention to me at the moment. I decided to test out my magic nickel by buying something that cost more than a nickel. I bought some juicy grapes that Mrs. Murphy was selling for twenty five cents a bunch. Before I ate even one, I couldn't stand it, I had to look in my shoe to see if my magic nickel returned. Sure enough it did! Then I began to wonder if my nickel had returned to me, did that mean that Mrs. Murphy was short a nickel? I thought I would ask her to make sure. She said,"No, I am not short a nickel, Rafe." At that moment I knew I really did own a magic nickel. I could hardly contain my joy as I made my way to Mr. Shields' store to visit the shiny new bike I had been saving my money for so long to buy. I thought I would test my magic nickel once again. So I stopped first at home and took all my savings out of my piggy bank. There was thirty-two dollars and forty five cents, counting my magic nickel. I went up to the counter and plunked down all my savings and told Mr. Shields that I wanted to buy that shiny new blue bike, and could I put it on layaway with my thirty two dollars and forty five cents? Now, Mr. Shields looked at me with the biggest grin I had ever seen him wear and he said, "Rafe, you won't believe this but you are the 1,000th customer I have had this year and that means you win this bike!" You could have knocked me over with a feather. I thought maybe Mr. Shields was playing a joke on me at first, but when he got the bike down and pushed it toward me to take, I was overjoyed. I had always wished for a shiny new bike and now I had one! I began to realize that when ever I made a wish, and then paid for what I wished for with my magic nickel, it would come true. It was indeed the best present anyone ever gave me. A few years have passed and my mother and I now live in a cute little house near town that we bought with, you guessed it, my magic nickel. One day I came across that sweet little old lady that gave me the magic nickel, and I rushed over to thank her. I said, "Excuse me ma'am, would you have change for my nickel?" She looked at me and smiled because she remembered me. I didn't even have to tell her that our life had improved one hundred percent and that we wanted for nothing now. She just looked at me, knowing it all, and she said, "Why I do believe I have five pennies for your nickel." And with that, I ever so carefully handed her the magic nickel, and kissed her on the cheek. A tear stained her face as she walked slowly away, I was sure, to find another person who would give her change for her magic nickel. April 20, 2016 Children's Story Short ~Second Place Premiere Contest~ Sponsor Seeker