25 cent Love

               I was born in 1875, and I'm one experienced US quarter that holds his head high. Well, this is how I would've liked to introduce myself to you, but honestly, there’s nothing much I did to feel as proud as a commander after war. So maybe by the end of my life’s story I’ll be able to introduce myself better. I knew I was born, that is, I knew life came into me the minute, something embossed onto me. It felt breathtaking and overwhelming … and I suppose that is how it’s meant to feel. After the noise had died down, all I could see were metal walls and shiny machines, all murmuring and groaning to each other. I looked around me, and there were so many quarters just like me, some lying on their bellies and the others floating about on the belt that was carrying us. I gleefully smiled … it looked like they all were replicas of me and suddenly without reason, I was excited. Then just like that, I slipped and fell into a spinning container that spun me round and round till I went dizzy, dozing off. 

                When I opened my eyes it was pitch-dark. I could hear sounds outside and could smell petrol at a distance but I couldn't make sense of where I was. I looked out of the corner of my eye. No quarter soul was seen; we were all stacked, cramped and breathless. We 20 quarters were suddenly lifted and handed over, and this I felt, I did. Then dawn cracked upon us as someone tore our cover, and I saw the face of the first human ever. He looked sophisticated and important. He ran one finger over us while he drove his car and said that we were brand new. I was so proud then that I smiled so brightly with my teeth and blinded the poor, important looking guy. He picked us up again and dropped us into his pocket and there we stayed. By the end of the ride, we had all split. A few went in for a car wash, a few into vending machines and some just scattered about on the dashboard while I still stayed in his pocket. Night fell and I went to sleep warm and happy with my first day of life.

                When morning came, I was still in his pocket, but not for long. He slipped his hand and searched me out, closing my eyes. I wondered what surprise he might be giving me and thoughts flashed in my mind. But nothing that I’d imagined was as beautiful as what he finally gave me. He removed the blindfold and there I saw her for the first time. She looked so beautiful, almost like as if she descended from the gold mines for me and I fell in love with her. She looked at me and carefully caressed me. She said to her father that I looked shiny and very handsome; I knew she’ll keep me forever from that moment onwards and she did. She called me her lucky charm and carried me wherever she went for years. To school, to the fair, to movies and at the dining table. We were inseparable … intertwined between her fingers always, I knew life would pass soon. But alas, I underestimated the will of destiny. She accidently dropped me while crossing the road one fine day, leaving me out in the cold blizzard that half drowned my life.

                I was found by a bunch of mean looking men. By the look of them I’d have judged them to be football players and they proved me right as they fought over me. One glance at their faces and I started wondering why God couldn't have let me die in peace out there. Then life turned out to be living hell after that. The boys would toss and turn me before every match and flip me out in front of some pretty girls to buy them a drink. And so my life went as I was dropped from one hand, and caught by another and traded for bronze pennies. I hated them pennies … they called me a two faced evil coin. Well then? What were they?
I grew stronger by their insults and I watched as I lost my shine. No matter where I went, I dreamt of meeting the girl once more and being her lucky charm. But I was afraid she wouldn't recognize me if I wasn't handsome any more. And so I escaped the clutches of launder mats and candy machines by slipping away and rolling out of pockets.

                But how long could I survive it out there and cheat death? I’d been held a billion times and my current owner was a young boy who took me to Ruby Falls and by now I had lost interest in seeing the world around me.  He pulled me out from his shirt pocket and eagerly stepped up to a crooked machine. I had seen all other kind of things that I should enter but this one was strange. I watched as a penny went in and saw the gears hold it as it struggled for its life. It was transported by the noisy gears and crushed with stamps and out it finally came gasping for breath. On its face was an impression of the logo of Ruby Falls. Was that what was going to happen to me? If something as monstrous as that was to stain my face, how was she ever going to identify me? I struggled as hard as I could, and tried to get away from the slot where I was to free-fall from. But nothing seemed to change. I pictured her in my mind as I closed my eyes, bracing myself.

And then just like that, as if God as listened to my prayers, she was there. She told him that only the pennies would go into them and not quarters. She fished out some damn pennies and dimes, exchanging them for me. I held my head high and looked at her. She seemed so much prettier now whereas I was scratched all over and dirty. She wiped me, as I cried tears of joy, with the tip of her gown and flipped me all over. “Daddy! I found it! The cut eagle!” she kissed my head and dropped me into a silken pouch which used to be my home for years. And so it was almost till the end of my existence. So re introducing myself … I am an 1875 quarter and I dwell in a coin collection plate. I've crossed the seven seas, faced so much danger and most importantly, have been loved by an angel.