The magic coin

THE MAGIC COIN

Seven years old Steven stayed with his sixty years old grandmother in a small hut in a distant village. On a very cold winter evening his grandmother asked him to go and buy a candle to light up their hut during the approaching dark winter night. As dusk crept in, the old lady fumbled through a tin which contained coins of various denominations trying to pick the correct one to enable her buy the candle with. After a thorough careful check and feeling through the coins, she finally landed her hands on a shiny silver coin and called out to Steven who was outside the hut closing the fowl cage door.

"Steven!" She called in a low husky voice, "Grandma! "He answered, rushing towards the entrance to the hut. "Go and buy a candle from Michaels shop before it gets dark", she said calmly as she gave the shiny silver coin to Steven.

Michaels shop was two hundred meters away from this secluded hut. The old lady told Michael to grasp the coin firmly in his fist and rush to the shop immediately. The young boy ran towards the shop and got there in a record few minutes. The shop was a bit crowded as people were busy buying their evening supplies before the shop closed.

Then came Stevens turn to buy, he held out his hand and gave Michael the coin in his hand and said, "Granny has sent me to buy a candle", Michael got the coin and wanted to check its denomination, being late evening, he took it with him towards the lamp on a tall stool in the corner of the shop to see it clearly. As he drew closer to the lamp, the coin started emitting colorful sparkling stars. In panic he tried to drop it down but it kept floating in midair to the amazement of all people in the shop. The sparkling stars formed a round ball like object producing bright light to the whole shop.

One of the elderly men in the shop then said a soothsayer must be consulted immediately to determine the origins of this mysterious coin. An old man who stayed at the edge of the village called Witty Franc was called to come and see this unknown coin. Witty did not hesitate when called upon; he hurriedly packed his small leather bag with some pieces of old sea shells and some Mable stones .He then got on an ox drawn cat which was sent to collect him.

Upon arrival at the shop, he muttered a few words at the entrance and entered the coin lit shop. He then spread a white cloth on the floor knelt down and placed the sea shells and Mable stones on it and muttered some words in a language only himself could understand and the light on the coin died down and it fell to the floor. He picked it and placed it in wood caved bowl and poured in a colorless liquid, bluish smoke emitted from the bowl. He then told the on lookers that the coin belonged to an ancient deity and that the coin was to be thrown in the middle of the ocean as it could bring a bad omen to the village.

Early the following morning Witty and a group of village elders got on a canoe and set for the middle of the ocean where the coin was dropped after a ritual conducted by the party. Later an announcement was made in the village that all those who had unknown coins should take them to Witty for scrutiny and disposing if need there be.