The Lucky Coin

Our story begins with Helen...

     Helen's appearance was not a pleasing sight; her green fur had seen better days. Covered in tattered rags the little Aisha hobbled slowly in the direction of the Soup Kitchen. Helen was known as "unlucky" by her few friends. She was once on the top; a sales manager for Achyfi Enterprises, but sadly the market went soaring down, near bankruptcy. The news had spread through all of Neopia, and word about layoffs soon came into the mind of Helen. Sure enough... she was without a job.

     On the streets Helen began to scavenge for any hopes of a tip for the kind Soup Faerie had since been her source of a warm meal for the past week. Helen had no way to repay the faerie's kind generosity since she had lost her only source of income. While she was pondering her possibilities for a tip, something small caught her eye, a mere glimmer of gold through the sewer grate; what it was Helen was unsure of. Indeed after close examination she decided it was a coin, a strange looking coin at that. The coin's rim was jagged and well worn; the front print was smudged ever so much so that the imprint was unreadable. It was something she had never seen the likes of before... Something was strange about this coin. The imprint, though highly smudged, looked to be something of a foreign descent. Her glistening blue eyes surveyed the coin, and with a light sigh she dismissed any thoughts of abnormality.

     She carried on her way towards the Soup Kitchen. With a smile on her face, she skipped along the trash scattered street. With a sudden WHOOSH... she was lying flat on the hard concrete. The culprit was a stone...

     (You would think this would be a normal incident, but think again.)

     ... Helen laughed it off and lightly kicked the stone to the corner. Her eyes followed the stone to the side of the moss covered wall, where nestled behind a clump of grass lay a crumpled up piece of paper. Helen, being a curious being, strolled over to the paper and saw that it was not a paper, but an Icetravaganza Scratch Card! She stumbled back in disbelief. After many pinches she concluded it to be real.

     She wiped her joy filled eyes, and took the coin to the card with a sliding motion revealing that she had won the jackpot! She hurried off to accept her winnings, but as she dashed off the street into the dense forest surrounding the area, she dropped the coin, as if it were a worthless item to her now.

     And now we will meet Mae...

     Stumbling through the thick trees, Mae, a brilliant striped Cybunny, browsed the bushes for any signs of a special treat, her silver pail filled with nothing more than air. Her mother had sent her on a hunt for the ingredients to bake her famous Snowberry Pie. The ingredients were all quite simple to find, except for the Snowberries. Of course Mae saved finding them for last. She kept her eyes low to the ground, ready to grab whatever came her way. While she made her way past the overgrown weeds, she spotted a coin resting under a newly planted potato plant. Mae quickly grabbed it and began to study it. The coin had a gold tint, and despite the old exterior, Mae figured it would be a nice addition to her trinket collection.

     She pushed aside some loose twigs on the ground and sat down for a quick rest. Her tail twitched with boredom. While thinking of other possible locations, she lightly tossed the coin into the air and caught it. Up and down, up and down went the coin into her hand, then suddenly, PLOP... the coin fell and began to roll across the loose dirt. She stumbled to her feet and sighed and pranced about following the coin to its destination.

     She was shocked when it finally fell to the ground to its resting place, for the coin had rolled right beneath a Snowberry bush. Without thinking, she knelt down and began to fill her pail with the plump spheres. Mae smiled as she tossed a few Snowberries into her mouth with pleasure, the sweet juice sending her mind into rockets of happiness. A few berries fell from the bush, then bounced down to the surrounding area. A single berry bounced beside the coin, sending it rolling yet again. Rolling down the path, the coin hit a small house.

     (Another lucky coincidence... I think not.)

     And now we meet Joey...

     Not seen by any, Joey felt quite alone, For he was an Invisible Kyrii. His past had been nice; he had gotten a quest from the Fountain Faerie. Quickly he found the item needed, and was given the opportunity to choose a new color for himself. Invisible, he had thought... he had always wanted to become invisible; he loved to pull pranks on others. So naturally that was his choice. But when taking the appearance of something that is not seen, he... well... was not seen either, or so it seemed. Being like so had its upsides and downsides. The pleasure of pranks only lasts for a small amount of time. But the quiet atmosphere... After many attempts to be seen, all Joey could want was to be noticed again.

     Joey was sitting by the large fountain in the center of the marketplace. He was admiring the lives of others around him, who could be seen when suddenly a coin rolled into his long bushy tail. Shocked, Joey snatched the coin off the ground and studied it. The coin appeared to be quite old and worn, yet it was shiny. Joey's ears lifted as he heard the familiar sound of a vendor in the crowd.

     Joey turned to see the vendor holding the many different types of paint brushes, of all colors. Every time this vendor passed for his daily duty, Joey felt agony, for he knew he could not afford a lovely paint brush. Filled with self pity, he walked over to the vendor and held the coin out. The vendor was shocked as he saw a levitating coin, but then again the vendor was not sure what to think, for he was hot from the midday heat.

     "Hello, Mr. Coin. May I help you?" the vendor asked as if in a daze.

     "What could I get with this?" Joey asked as he placed the coin lightly in the vendor's hand.

     "Oh, you could buy any of them! Mr. Coin, I have not seen another like you... you would be a nice addition to my coin collection!" The vendor gleamed as he inspected the coin for fraud.

     Joey took a paint brush off of the vendor's cart, and examined it. It had beautiful wings, those which resembled those of the elegant faeries that fluttered about. Joey frowned as he thought of the past times when he could be seen; he thought of his friends, his family, and more important, his self esteem, all of which vanished when he turned invisible. He smiled and nodded as he patted the vendor's shoulder.

     "I will take this paint brush, sir. I thank you for everything," he said with a brimming smile on his face. Joey held the paint brush snug in his arms as he skipped on his way towards the Rainbow Pool, so that he too could become known again, and he might find his way to stardom.

     The coin had rested inside a canvas pouch adorning the strap of the paint brush vendor's belt, but with the late evening soon to come, the vendor sat down beside the large fountain that lay in the center of the small town. He knelt over and cupped his hands into a bowl shape as he splashed the cool water upon his sun-kissed face. The vendor leaned slightly to the side to investigate the contents of a loose fragment of paper that lay on the dirt dusted ground. The sudden forward momentum caused the coin to tumble out of the canvas pouch and silently fall to the ground. Rolling... rolling... rolling went the coin down the path.

     Only those who are worthy enough will be graced with the presence of this coin. The creator of this coin is unknown; where it will go or who it will reside with will remain a mystery. Will you be the new owner of this coin? Only time will tell.

The End