Phil Penne Creations

#21 - The Penny

 

 

        Investors make millions in IPO screams the headline on the city section of the newspaper. 

        You just glance at it and wag your head slowly from side to side, all the time rummaging through your change jar and the sofa cushions, trying to scrounge up enough cab fare to make it to the unemployment agency and back. Must be nice to be that lucky. Some people could eat burnt toast and crap diamonds. Not you. The only luck you’ve ever had was bad, and that you seem to have in abundance. 

        You glance at the clock, then quickly count the pile of change in your hand. Well, this will get you there, but you’ll have to walk back. What the heck – the exercise will do you good. 

        At the unemployment agency, it’s the same old story – No, we haven’t found anything for you… Yes, we know you need work… Oh, and sorry – the checks are late, something about the computer; you’ll have to come back on Thursday. You heave a tired sigh, exit the building, and start the long trek home, pausing briefly to give a homeless woman the remaining 47 cents in your pocket, apologizing that it can not be more. 

        You continue down the sidewalk, past strip clubs, bars, pawnshops, and ethnic grocery stores. Sitting on a bench long enough to tie your shoe, you notice a penny lying in the gutter. You bend over to retrieve it... 

 

 

 

Rabbit holes are seldom straight. They often weave a winding path to take you from where you are to where you want to be.