The Penny

The wind, wild and untamed, tore at Joe's eyes, as they desperately scanned the ground for a flash of bronze.  The alley was cold and dark, and water dripped down from a leaky pipe, the pitter patter like a timer, counting down the minutes Joe had left.  Of course, if he found the penny, he would be spared.  But the shiny bronze coin seemed to like watching him panic, as if the sweat dripping from his forehead was somehow entertaining.

"Come on," he pleaded, dragging his hand across his forehead in a desperate attempt to wash the sickly sweet sweat away.  "You have to be here somewhere."

He continued his search, dragging his raw fingers through piles of trash.  He needed this penny, needed it now, or else, to put it quite frankly, he would be screwed.  

"Ahh, come on now.  Here, here little penny."  For a moment he wondered why he was calling it like a dog, as if the penny would come waddling up to him, but then he continued on his way, knowing that wasting such time could be catastrophic.  

"I don't know what I'll do if I can't find you," he said, mostly to himself.  Thunder crackled overhead, and Joe shivered, as if the boom of the heavens was a personal warning for him.  Find the penny.

He continued his trek down the alley, the winding cobblestone path becoming progressively darker.  Joe felt a chill run down his back.  He didn't believe in ghosts or anything, but somehow, he felt as though someone was watching him at that moment.

"No, no, I'm fine," he told himself.  Usually he avoided talking to himself, because it was weird, but in that alley, cold and alone, the drip drip drip of water becoming more than background fuzz, his voice was comforting.  

He bent down then, coming up to a pile of clothes and trash.  For a moment he wondered if they were the same thing.  Clothes, trash.  Trash, clothes.  Things once found valuable always end up as trash, Joe thought.  Rifling through the pile, Joe came across some expensive logos.  He briefly wondered how those nice things had gotten there, how those too had become trash, but quickly realized that humans moved on fast, never holding on to anything.  

He cringed when his hand hit something slimy, deep within the depths of the pile, but continued, baring his teeth to keep from throwing up.  His hands desperately pawed at things he had looked through before, pockets that had already been searched.  He felt tears spring to his eyes as he realized that his search was probably over.  

His time was probably up. 

Then, from the corner of his eye, shone a speckle of bronze, bright and inviting among the masses of gray.  Leaping up, Joe ran towards the gateway to his freedom, the one tiny thing that could guarantee the future Joe thought he had lost.  

His feet pounded against the ground, and even though it seemed close, the penny couldn't be further.  His arms pumped at his sides, slapping the wind.  His lungs burnt, his breath becoming ragged and uneven, but he didn't stop.  

Finally, he came to a stop, hunching over and panting in spite of himself.  He wanted so badly to just grab the penny, but by the way his legs wobbled, he knew if he bent down right then, it would only be a matter of seconds before the rest of his body followed. 

His breath coming out like gunshots, short and violent, he finally bent down and reached for the penny.  his fingers brushed it, gingerly feeling the bumpy, yet smooth surface.  

"Finally," his voice was wispy as he stared in amazement.  He was saved.

Closing his fingers around the coin, Joe stood up, facing the now brightening sky.  His feet flew down the alley as he raced towards where he had come from, joy swelling in his chest.  In a matter of minutes, he would be out of there, free of the horrors he had felt in the dungeon-like alley. 

His panting became overwhelming and his legs burned, but he continued until he saw the faces.  Their eyes dark and heavy, the two older boys approached Joe, their arms crossed in an attempt to appear superior.  

"Well?"  Spit went flying when the bigger of the two boys spoke.  Joe knew from hallway whispers at school that this boy's name was Connor. 

The other one, skinny and covered in freckles, smiled eerily at Joe.  As Joe stared up at his cartoon-like face, he realized he couldn't recall this boy's name.

"I, um..."  Joe found it hard to speak, like his own voice didn't even trust him.  "I found your penny."

"You know how I lost it?"  Connor said, as he snatched the penny up in his sweaty hand.  He leaned in closer, so that Joe could smell the twisted odor of fast food and pre-teen boy on him.  "Take a guess."

Joe looked down, not wanting to say the wrong thing.  These boys outnumbered him, and even if it were only one of them, they were both much bigger. 

"You dropped it out here?"  The words tasted lame, coming out of his mouth, but Joe couldn't think of any other way a penny could have been lost.

"Ha, no you idiot.  I didn't even lose it.  I put it out here on purpose."

Joe looked up at the boy suddenly, confusion clouding his vision.  His face twisted into a bizarre shape as he asked one simple question:

"Why?"

"I wanted to test you.  If you didn't find it, I was going to make you feel real bad.  Maybe throw a punch.  But now that you've found it, I guess I can make you feel stupid instead."

Joe looked down at his toes, trying to suppress the tears but failing.  He had thought so much was riding on finding the penny.  He thought if he found it, Connor and his friend, who were way cooler, would want to be his friend.  Connor made it sound like the penny was so important when he found Joe by the alley earlier, asking him to look for it.  Now that Joe thought back, he wondered why he had never questioned why Connor couldn't look for it himself.

"You don't need to make me feel stupid," Joe said, blinking hard.  

Connor and his friend started to laugh, their shrill gasps cutting across the alley.  Joe wanted to shrink away, crawl into a dark depth, and unlike the penny, never be found. 

"Why did you want to do that, though?  Why did you want to test me?"  The question had just fallen out of Joe's mouth, and he wished he could have caught it.

"Why do you watch movies, Joe?"  Connor's question puzzled him.  He waited for Connor to continue, and after a long pause, he did.  "Because you can.  I did this because I can.  It was a little game.  You mean nothing to me, but I wanted to see what I meant to you."

Joe felt it again, the pressure of tears building behind his eyes, preparing to pour out in a waterslide of emotions.  Connor only viewed him as a little pawn, and Joe had willingly run towards the queen.  How stupid could he be?

"I should go.  My mum's probably worried."  Joe started to walk away, but felt a firm grasp on his shoulder before he even made it a couple of meters.

"Don't make this a deal, okay?"  It was Connor's friend, speaking for the first time.  "It was just a game, to us anyway.  I don't know what you thought it was.  But it's not something to whine about."  Connor's friend gave him a shove, sending Joe into a crazed run.  The boys laughed behind him as his small feet scattered across the cobblestone, desperate to get away.  He reached the end of the alley faster than he should have.  

He took a moment to turn back.  The penny glinted from Connor's fingers.  

But it wasn't shiny anymore.  It wasn't something Joe wanted to preserve.  It wasn't something that made him nervous, while also giving him hope.  

Joe looked at the penny, not knowing what it was anymore.