The Lucky Penny

Josh needed $400 more to go on the white water rafting trip, so that meant a lot more lawns to mow and rake. He looked more like a homeless old man on a bike with his every belonging, instead of a thirteen year old entrepreneur. He wore his big floppy hat, a long sleeved shirt and khaki cargo pants. Packed in the trailer, like some kind of lawn Transformer, were the tools of his trade.

He stopped his bike before riding over a huge pile of broken glass on the sidewalk. He looked to his right and saw there was a broken window in the car parked at the curb.

"Excuse me, son," said an old man sitting on the porch next to three rotting pumpkins. "What time is it?"

Josh pulled his phone from his pocket and checked the time. "It's ten after eight, sir."

"Plenty of time before they get here," said the old man. "My whole family will be coming over here this afternoon. I just hate that the place looks a mess." He shook his head and looked down at his gnarled hands.

"I can mow and clean things up for you," said Josh. "It won't take me much time at all. I'll spiffy up the place for $30."

"You have yourself a deal. What is your name, son?"

Josh hopped off his bike and began unpacking his tools. "My name is Josh," he said over his shoulder.

"Josh, you'll get my lucky penny too. I'll leave it here on the porch for you. I must go now. My family and I thank you," said the old man.

"You're welcome," said Josh, as he turned to face the old man, but he was gone.

Josh shrugged it off and got to work raking leaves.

Josh finished by sweeping up the glass and then headed to the porch with the trash can to dispose of the pumpkins. Just as the old man said, there was an envelope with Thank you written in a shaky hand slid just under a pumpkin. He stuffed the envelope in his pocket and chucked the disgusting pumpkins in the garbage.

~ ~ ~

Josh did three more lawns and called it a day. He put the cash in his wooden box and dug out the envelope from his pocket. He tore the envelope open and found only a single penny in a tiny plastic bag

He looked at the penny with Lincoln on one side and a bundle of wheat on the other. 1943.

"So how'd you do today?" asked his mother, Jaime. She leaned against the door frame to his room.

"I thought I made just over a hundred but some old guy I met today, ripped me off. I thought the money was in the envelope but all he gave me was an old penny in a bag."

"Maybe the penny is worth something. Can I see it?" asked his mother.

"Sure," said Josh. He dropped the bag in his mother's open hand.

"Ah, it's a wheat penny. I haven't seen one of these in years. So, look up 1943 Lincoln wheat penny, see what you find," said his mother.

Josh plopped down in his chair and quickly banged out his mother's search terms.

"No way," said Josh. "Mom!"

She leaned over his shoulder to look at the computer screen and said, "Let's take a drive."

~ ~ ~

While his mom knocked on the door of the old man's house, Josh looked around the porch and the ground for his missing payment.

An older woman opened the door. "Hello, you must be Josh and his mother. Come in, come in. We've been waiting for you," said the woman as she opened the door to the house.

"I'd like to talk to your husband for a moment, if I could," said Jaime.

"My husband?" asked the older woman. She looked confused for a moment. "Oh, this isn't my house. It's my brother's."

"I'm sorry. Is your brother available? I'd like to talk to him about a coin he gave to my son," said Jaime.

Josh and his mother stepped inside the doorway and saw a few others sitting in the living room.

"Please, make yourself comfortable and then we'll talk. Would either of you like some fresh lemonade?" said the old woman as she lead them to a vacant loveseat.

"I would love some lemonade. How about you, mom?" asked Josh.

"Uh, sure," said Jaime.

Once refreshments were served, the old woman said, "My brother, Gerard, passed away three days ago, I'm sorry to say. According to a provision in his will, the reading was to be done here at his home three days after his death."

"The guy in the picture stiffed me thirty bucks to do the lawn," said Josh pointing to a picture on an end table beside him.

"That is me and Gerard last year in New Mexico," said the old woman. "That was our last trip. I'm sure he didn't intend to not pay you."

"What he did was give my son a coin. I'm not sure if it's a fake or what," said Jaime.

"I can assure you that these coins are not fake," said another man. He picked up the wooden box and handed it to Josh. "My brother collected and sold coins as a hobby most of 80 some years. Now he's leaving them to you."

"Wow," said Josh as he stared at the box.

"His will was changed six months ago to give the coins to a boy named Josh," said the man. "We've been waiting for you to come by for the last hour." He patted the box and walked back to the couch.

"How is that possible? We just moved here less than six months ago?" asked Jaime.

"That was the thing about Gerard. He just knew things," said his sister.

Josh opened the box to find $30 sitting atop a treasure of coins.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Writer's Cramp 11-8, word count: 1000

Use the following in your story or poem - you may use them in any order, but they must be bolded:

raking leaves
old man on a bike
lucky penny
"What time is it?"
a broken window
three rotting pumpkins