What's a Penny?
A children's story by Ann Pass
A young girl was playing in the sand one day when she hit something hard with her spade. She dug it up and found it was a penny. The little girl was a child of a very rich family, so she didn't really need the penny, but instead of throwing it away she looked around the beach.
A young boy sat without a smile, his head in his hands, "Hello," said the girl. "My name's Susan, what's yours? And why are you so sad?"
"It's John," said the young boy, "and I have nothing to play with."
"Here," said Susan, "I have found this penny, go and buy a toy off the pedler lady at the end of the pier."
"Thanks," said John. "Are you sure?"
Together they ran and bought a ball off the pedler lady for the cost of the penny, and together they played on the beach for hours.
Come dark, the beach soon became empty and the pedler lady slowly made her way home. On her way she saw an old man sitting on the side of the road, begging for food. The pedler lady felt sorry for the old man and gave him the only penny she had made that day.
What a cheerful smile the old man had on receiving the penny. They walked together as far as a small cafe where they said their goodbyes and their thank yous and the old man went inside to get some food.
At another table sat a soldier, and before taking his leave, he went up to the counter to pay his bill. In his change was the penny, and the soldier put it into his breast pocket.
The soldier was in a fierce battle that night and at arm's length got shot in the chest. Immediately, his friends were grabbing hold of him, and rushing him to the hospital.
On arrival, the soldier gave his name and to everyone's amazement he rose from his stretcher and stood up to undo his shirt. Everyone gasped when all that they say on his chest was a small scratch.
The soldier examined the shirt and, as he turned and twisted it, the penny from his pocket fell out.
The soldier bent to pick it up and, as he leaned forward, he looked more closely at it. There, in the middle of the penny was the bullet that should have gone through his heart.
The penny was put into a museum, in a glass case. On the official opening of the museum, the King asked the history of the penny and as the story unfolded from the little girl on the beach, he was so interested he ordered the front jewel out of his crown to be removed, and in its place they placed the penny, complete with its bullet.
So if anyone asks "What's a penny?", just remember, sometimes a penny can be more valuable than the jewel in the crown.
And a Question.....
What can be given
but never taken away?What takes just a second
yet lasts a life time?What can bring so much
happiness at times
when people stop caring?The answer to all these
questions is:A S M I L E
Copyright The Bentilean, 1990, 1999
Ann Pass was a regular contributor to The Bentilean magazine, but usually wrote poems, such as "Accident Unit", "My Mum's New Cooker", and her "Tribute to Star Trek", all of which can be found among these pages.Back to: The Contents Page | The Archive | The Bentilean Main Page