July 11, 2021 - “A Shiny Penny” - Alexandra Pauley

When you shuffle along the same befouled, concrete sidewalks day after day, it's hard to get excited about what you see on the ground. I've seen everything from rotten produce, to rusty appliances, to used condoms. Anything of value was snatched up microseconds after touching the ground, so I never hold my breath that I'll spy those.

But on rare occasion, I find something of intrigue. An item that speaks to me, through subsonic pulses, vying for my attention. That, happened only yesterday. Despite the overbearing street noise, consisting of obnoxious taxi horns, never-ending construction, and angry voices, which is a given in any city like this, I heard the faint call of a secret siren. A voice, so fragile and hushed, yet, driven and insistent, that I could not ignore it. It grew exigent, as I moved forward, growing to a quiver. Upon passing an overturned, old school, metal trash can, which had seen better days, I spotted my quarry; a solitary, shiny penny. Strange, in its pristine appearance, among the droppings of humanity.

Although, not a whole penny. Upon setting it in correct position in my hand, Abe side up, it was apparent that the better part of his chest was missing. The copperesque quality looked out of place in my pale, cracked palm. Years of manual labor were hard on the skin.

Confused, I flipped the coin over, then, discovering it was upside down, flipped to correct it. The crest on the back, had been partially removed. Wracking my brain, trying to remember what had been on that part of the penny, I drew a blank. Quickly, I dove into my deep purse, aiming straight for the bottom, where all of the abandoned coins huddled together, and pulled out a penny, going directly to the back. And there I discovered what had been intentionally removed from the shiny penny which I had found on the street; E Pluribus Unum. “Out of many, one.”

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Alexandra Pauley is the author of Semi-Sweet Sarcophagus, Wacky Won- ders Chocolate Boutique Cookbook, On The Verge Of Being Homeless: A Guide To Wise Decisions, The ‘New Homeless’, and other works of fiction and non-fiction.

An advocate to the homeless population, she is currently volunteering with Sleepy Herd, Inc. Alexandra has a B.A. in Psychology, and is a Certified Science of Happiness Specialist with Hapacus.