The Coin

A girl finds a coin that brings misfortune.

I first saw the strange coin near a sewer hole. It was glistening gold in color and that’s what got my attention. I picked it up and showed it to my friend, Valerie.

 

“What’s that, Kristy?” she asked me.

 

“I found it here. It looks as though someone was trying to get rid of it.”

 

She grabbed it. “But it’s so beautiful. Even though it has a picture of an ugly man with glasses, a bald head, and a bearded face.”

 

She turned it over. “Look.” On the back of the coin, it said “Misfortune Will Come to the Head.”

 

“What the heck does that mean?” asked Valerie.

 

“Don’t know. Maybe it’s worth something.” I took the coin and put it into the pocket of my purple coat.

 

We walked on. Valerie said bye and ran into her house. I quickly walked through the grass and into my warm house next door.

 

The house was always empty when I got back from school. Dad works until eleven o’clock, my stepmother works until five, and my two-year-old brother was in daycare.

 

I tossed my backpack onto the living room couch and shook off my jacket. I hung it in the closet, forgetting about the coin inside it.

 

I plopped down onto the couch and turned on the TV, flipping to a news station to see the weather. Yesterday the weatherman had reported snow for tonight. I was praying for a school closing.

 

The news was showing something about a hotel fire. Bored, I grabbed one of my long braids that had come undone earlier and started re-braiding.

 

I hated that my mom lived across town. She used to always braid my hair tight enough to last for two or three weeks. My new stepmother tried, but I always ended up redoing the braids.

 

The TV got my attention when I heard the breaking news about a guy who was just accused of stealing jewelry from a local jeweler on Randol St., which was only three blocks away from my house. The thief was claiming he didn’t even know there was a jeweler on that street, so he couldn’t possibly have done it. When the news showed the mug shot of the guy, I could have sworn I’d seen him before. Then it hit me.

 

I ran to the coat closet, pulled the mysterious coin out of my coat pocket, and couldn’t believe what I saw. The man on TV was the same man as the one on the coin.

 

I turned the coin over and over, trying to identify it. It had no year, nothing to indicate what country it came from. Obviously that guy must’ve been or possibly still is the ruler of wherever it came from. But if that’s the case, wouldn’t he be excessively rich and have no need to rob a jewelry store?

 

By the time I went back to the TV, the news was displaying the weather. It still had snow on the forecast for tonight.

 

I went to my room and put the coin in my jewelry box. I didn’t think about it again until the next day.

* * * *

In the morning I found out school wasn’t closed, just delayed two hours. I was happy for the extra sleep though.

 

As I was getting ready for school, I opened my jewelry box to get a pair of earrings. I took a quick glance at the gold coin and did a double take.

 

The face on it was now that of a woman with short hair and dimples. I carefully flipped it over. The same words “Misfortune Will Come to the Head” were on the opposite side.

 

I backed away. There was no way someone could’ve switched the coin. The coin must be enchanted. But by what? A witch? Were witches real? They could be, according to what I saw.

 

I looked into the jewelry box again. No, my eyes weren’t playing tricks on me.

 

“Come on, Kristy!” my stepmother called from the kitchen. “Breakfast is getting cold!”

 

I took a deep breath. Then I grabbed the coin and put it into the pocket of my blue jeans.

 

I ate without saying a word about it. No one would believe me except Valerie. She had seen the coin when the man had been on it.

 

After finishing my breakfast I grabbed my coat and backpack, rushing out the door. Valerie was already waiting beside her mailbox.

 

“I have something to show you,” I said immediately.

 

“Good morning to you, too,” she said sarcastically.

 

“This is serious.” I took out the coin. “Look.”

 

She looked at the face of the coin. “You found another coin?”

 

“It’s the same one! Look at the back. How could I find two coins with the same thing on it?”

 

“It changed?”

 

“Yes. It must be…magic.”

 

She stared some more. “Maybe you should just get rid of it.”

 

We didn’t have time to talk about it anymore. We saw our bus stopping at the corner. We had to run to make sure we didn’t miss it.

* * * *

That day after school, I was looking at the news again to see if I could find out more information about the guy whose face used to be on the coin. Valerie was sitting beside me because I had told her about seeing the guy on TV.

 

The breaking news for today was something else. A woman’s identity had been stolen. All the money in her bank account was gone.

 

They showed the woman, crying, while telling how much money was taken.

 

“That’s the woman on the coin!” exclaimed Valerie.

 

It certainly was. I looked from the TV to the coin in my hand.

 

“So…whoever the coin shows…they end up on the news?” Valerie asked.

 

“I guess so. And always for something bad.” I handed her the coin. “I don’t want it anymore.”

 

“Let’s get rid of it. It’s kind of scary knowing who’s the next victim of some random misfortune. Though it could be useful…”

 

“No. I’m getting rid of it.” I grabbed the coin and my coat. Valerie grabbed her coat and followed me out the door.

 

We walked into the woods to a wooden bridge crossing over a river about twenty feet below. I stared at the coin.

 

“It’s beautiful. And it has psychic powers. But…” I hesitated.

 

“Drop it into the river, Kristy. We can’t keep it. No one should have it,” Valerie told me.

 

I sighed and let it slip slowly across my fingers. Just before it fell towards the rushing water, I saw my face appear on the coin.

 

 

THE END

Author's Note

What do you think of the ending?

Reviews

[Waka Crusnik]

I like how the ending left me with a face similar to "o_o"... The mystery of what could possibly happen to the narrator is haunting. Just something bad is going to happen is all, but judging by the first two "victims", she won't face any physical harm at least...

As for the story itself, it was creative! It makes me wonder who attempted to get rid of the coin previously, and who will find the coin now that the narrator discarded it. I wish the story had a little more bulk though; all the necessary things to the plot line is here, and the narrator said something about her mother and step mother... wonder what happened there.

This whole story just left me wondering!!!