Merry-Go-Round

Knawledge, 2000, le savoir. Canada. Eliabeth II, D. G. Regina. 2 Dollars.

The weather on the day this journey began was a testimony of the long road to come. Storms and clear skies, coldness and warmth, beauty and fear. Life and death. Shinny and new, the silver and gold coin was placed in the bank as an infant, and left it only two days later to see for itself what the world is really like.

Placed in the hand of an aged old lady who's silver hair was still long and beautiful, tied back in a braid that fell down her back, the coins first owner was one who could truly appreciate it's bright shine. She had not much to spend, her monthly income only just enough to feed herself and her equally arthretic cat. Because of this, she held the coin as a treasure, cupped in her wrinkled hand to keep it safe as she hobbled out of the bank, her cane bent with the weight it supported day after day. Under the morning sun, this careful old lady walked slowly down the street. The feel of the coin was one she enjoyed, but one she could not keep, as her supply of water was again running low.

And so the coin changed hands after a short twenty minutes, and found it's new home amongst others of its kind in a tiny mettle box sitting in a locked drawer.

It's next three homes where short ones. From the drawer to a pocket, from there to a table and straight into the hands of a greatful waitress who sent it to it's next home as a present for a little boy.

This child with brown hair regarded the coin with a critical blue eye. It had been explained to him that since this day was his second birthday, it made sense for him to recieve a two dollar coin. He wasn't entierly sure if it did make sense, as he had no idea what math was yet, but he liked the tiny picture in the middle of the golden part. Polar bears where his favourite animal, five of them lining his dresser top where they watched over him as he slept. Thinking it was the right thing to do, the little boy placed his new coin at the feet of the middle bear, and there it shone with all it's might until, mearly days later, it was stolen.

Clouds obscuring the sky aided the theif as he jogged down the street to find the closest bar that was still open. Since he was out of shape, he was out of breath when he reached the doors to his favourite haunt. The coin, gripped tightly in his fingers, was hardly looked at as the man slapped it down on a table and shouted for the bar tender to bring him a drink. The usual. The best one to drown his guilt, the misery of another lost job, and the knawledge he would have to face his wife soon enough. And now, with this drink, he would have to think of an explination for his son as well.

Another drawer. And hours later, another thief. Placed in a bag, the coin rattled with others as it's newest owner ran from the police. The chase was not long, for this thief was in far better shape then the last, his muscles wide awake after hours spent practising for a job that turned him down anyway. What did it matter then? With the last hope gone, this young man had no reason to uphold a law that wasn't going to help him. He would help himself, the way he had for so many of his first yeasr when his father was dead and his mother to grief stricken to think of him. He would use this money to what he needed.

From the bag to a hand, to a box, to another hand. This owner was leaving the country, and spent the coin along with others to buy a new coat that would replace her one that had been torn in her last attempt to climb the practise wall.

For the first time the coin saw green eyes. Bright, beautiful, and healthy, the green eyes stared down at it as the daughter of a cloathing store manager walked quietly down a snow strewn sidewalk. The sun was warm, though the air was crisp, and the ten year old girl's cheeks where as red as her hair that bounced as she moved. On a mission to find the store that would sell her that wonderful little doll she had seen the other day, the girl was in a bright mood as she rubbed her fingers over the coin. It had lost some of it's shine in it's changing of hands, yet it still held an air of being new. The little girl loved it. But she wanted the doll more.

Changing from girl to store clerk the coin might have believed its journey was over when it was taken home and dropped into a piggy bank. But no, the road was still long. It's stay in the piggy bank covered months, and when it saw the sunlight again it was even dimmer then before. Clanking against the other coins, it went with them to pay for a much needed bike, and from there it went to a boy that kept it in his back pocket with a bit of string, a sticky mint, a joker card, and a twenty dollar bill. If not for the bill, the coin might have escaped it's washing along with the pants when theboy forgot it was still in his pocket. Since no one saw it fall out at the laundry mat, it stayed at the bottom of the washing machine for weeks before the machine was glanced into and a teenage girl picked the lonley coin up. She smiled, and immediatly used it to dry her laundry.

After so long, the coin had almost forgotten what it was like to be stolen. But here it was. Another thief, breaking into the store and emptying the drawer of cash into her little bag. Taking it back to her home, this time with no police chase as the laundry mat did not make enough money to have proper security, the woman counted out her gatherings. More then she expected, yet less then she needed, this scraggly haired woman decided to risk it and take the money to the man she owed. He was not happy with her lack of full pay back. Making sure she understood how serious he was, the coins new owner left her curled on the sidewalk clutching the tiny bag he had given her. Just enough to tease her with. She would have the rest of the money for him soon.

Here, the coin had its first taste of life where it was hardly needed. The man who owned it had so many of it's kind he spared it hardly a glance well tossing it into it's month long home. It would doutless have been it's home for longer then it was if it had not been for the neice of this man who decided it would make a good addition to her coin collection. It was not a very old coin yet, though it looked it, but she loved the picture and wanted it to grace the slot in her coin holder that marked the year it was made it. She let it sit in viniger water for an hour to bring it back to a wonderful shine.

Fire struck. It hardly made a difference to the coin, or to it's comrades, but with everything around it blackened and crumbled, the coin was forced to leave it's long time home. It was a fireman that found the coin. Being in the middle of a ruin that had been combed over many times with human and inhuman hands, the coin had lost it's box, and so when the fireman found it alone and half burried he did not think it wrong to tuck it safely into his pocket.

Using it hours later to pay for a little surprise present for his brother, the coin shifted through owners to fast to count. In one place, to the coins shock, it was placed in just the right place to be in the way of a sledge hammer being slung by a very angry boyfriend. Half of it's round figure smashed paper thin, the coin fell to the floor and would not have been noticed if it hadn't found an unsuspecting toe to slice with it's new sharpness. The girlfriend, already in a bad mood over the state of her home, was so enraged by this insult that she flung the coin out the window where it fell three stories to crash against the cement. Bouncing and rolling, it found it's way to the feet of a homeless woman curled on her side by a dumpster. The woman, wrapped in ragged blankets and coats, seized the coin and quickly found a way to be rid of it. Her tummy full, she did not miss it till the next time she was hungry.

Now moving from a quick stop store to a pet store for a dog bone to a candy store for a lolly pop, the coin found it's way into the breast pocket of a shirt worn by a man who knew he had not much time to live. If only he had not angered those men! His sister had been right, he should not have tried to fool them, he should have gone for help before he had placed himself in this irreversible situation. Now, even if he could make it to the police station, it would not help him. They where powerful. They had connections. They would find and kill him even from jail. He ran... ran for as long as he could, and when he stopped it was beside a river. He turned to find that he was not alone.

And now, the coin discovered that it was possible for it's form to change more dirasticly then to be lop sided in it's appearence.

A mystery like non the coriner had faced before, the bullet was not the only thing pulled from the chest of the young man found floating in a river. Curled around the tip of the bullet was a piece of golden mettled, that when studied long enough, was discovered to be the center piece to a two dollar coin. It's final home would be an evidence bag.

But where was the rest of the coin... silver ring?

Months past. When all hope had been lost, finally, a rivers water level sank, and a little girl was allowed to go swimming. Her toes bumped into something strange, something that caught around her big toe and made her laugh and fall over trying to get it off. Once it was in the light where she could see it, the girl blinked at it but couldn't figure out what it was. She tossed it over her shoulder, where it landed in the grass.

Walking along the bank days later, a young woman bent to retrieve something the sun had reflected off of. A quick comparison to her the surprising news, and the young woman took the ring home. Her husband, also surprised, found a way unsharpen the one edge of it. Thinking of it as a treasure, the young woman found a chain to put it on and wore it for weeks before she gave it to her friend for a forget-me-not present. She and her husband moved out of the country not long after.

The new owner of the part of a coin was soon to have a baby. A little baby boy, evedently with lungs quite capable of becoming a singer some day, was born hours later. The proud new mother took the necklace off so it would not be in the way. Forgetting it for the time being, the necklace was somehow lost, and hours later found by a nurse who thought it a very interesting decoration.

With a smile, she brought it with her as she left work, driving only a few blocks away to a little house where her grandmother lived. A dear old lady, with wrinkled hands, a bent cane, and a photograph of a dear old cat that had been put down just months before.

What a wonderful new gift, this necklace! Wouldn't it be interesting to know the story of the half of a coin that hangs from it..?