The Coin

Johnny was getting antsy in his seat, as he glanced at the clock. 'Five more minutes until the last bell,' he thought. He was anxious to take the ride home on the bus again. And to sit next to Scootch, whom he found very interesting. That morning they had quite a conversation over their collecting habits. Johnny talked about his rookie baseball cards and Scootch compared it to his rare coin collection.

Johnny followed Scootch onto the bus and down the aisle, waiting for his new friend to pick the perfect seat for the ride home. After a few stops Johnny brought the subject up for discussion. "Scootch, I'll give you two of my favorite, collector, rookie cards for one of your coins."

"Oh, I don't know, Johnny, but you can come over to my house and I'll show them to you."

Johnny hopped off the bus and raced to his door. Blondie, his Golden Retriever was standing just inside ready to greet him with kisses. "Hi, Boy," he said. "How's my Blondie?"

"Mom! I'm home!" No one answered. The house was silent, but there laying on the kitchen table was a note from his mother.

'Johnny, I had to take Amy to the doctors. Go to Linda's and stay with Eddie until I get home. She's expecting you. Love Mom.'

"Oh no," Johnny said. "Not now." Patience was something Johnny didn't have. When he had an idea of wanting to do something, it was hard for him to wait, so he ran upstairs to his bedroom and gathered together some of his favorite collector cards. He thought that if Scootch saw these prized cards, then maybe, just maybe, he would want to give up at least one of those coins. He just had to have one.

Scootch was outside with his basketball when Johnny arrived. "I brought my cards for you to look at," Johnny whispered, completely out of breath. "Where are your coins?"

"They're in my bedroom. Come on!"

Johnny followed Scootch into his house, up the steps and into his room. Scootch took a small key out of his dresser drawer and opened a small safe, sitting in a corner of his room.

"Wow, they must be expensive if you keep them locked up in a safe!"

"Yes they are," Scootch commented proudly, as he lifted a small box from the safe and placed it onto his bed. "Close your eyes, Johnny!"

in a second Johnny's eyes were opened wide, as he was instantly drawn to the coin he wanted. It was the shiniest, gold coin he had ever seen. This coin was bigger than a half dollar. He just had to have it,

"Scootch, I'll trade you my most prized possession, rookie, Phillies card for this coin."

"I Don't know, Johnny. This coin is very rare and valuable."

"Then I'll add three more Red Sox rookie cards. That's four top-shelf cards for one coin. That's gotta be a good deal!"

"Hello, I'm home!"

"Quick, Johnny, put the coin into your pocket. I don't want my mom to know that I'm trading."

Johnny placed the shiny, gold coin deep into his pocket and they both walked down the steps, where his mother was waiting.

Johnny quickly said his goodbyes and ran down the street, anxious to get to a safe distance, where he could retrieve that coin from his pocket.

Johnny gazed at the large, shiny, gold coin lying there in the palm of his hand. He couldn't believe it was really his.

Just then, there was a loud bang from behind, startling Johnny...making him jump. There flew the coin, out of his hand and into the air. Johnny watched as it bounced off of the concrete and started rolling down the street. He ran after it, hoping it wasn't damaged, but the coin just kept on rolling faster and faster until it hit the curb and dropped into the ground.

Johnny stood still, staring at the spot where he had lost his coin. It was a drain hole at the curb of the street. 'My beautiful, shiny, gold coin is lost forever," he whined.

Johnny sat down onto the curb, sadly staring at that drain, wiping away a stream of tears running down his face.

"What's the matter, son?" he heard a voice ask. When he lifted up his head, there standing as tall as ever was a police officer.

"Can you open this drain so I can get my gold coin?" Johnny begged. "It flew out of my hand and rolled down this hole. I can see it, but can't reach it."

"Yes, I think I can open this and get that shiny coin back into your hands." The policeman walked to his car and opened the trunk and brought out a crow bar. Then he pried that cover off of the drain hole and grabbed hold of my coin, safely returning it back into my sweaty palm.

"Thank you so much, Mr. policeman. And I am going to put this big, shiny, gold coin back where it belongs... deep into my pocket.