Work Text:
THE MOON AND THE PENNY
By Amy Thompson.
On a cloudless night a penny lay on the windowsill of a young boy's bedroom. The boy was sleeping sweetly, dreaming of the warm shawl he would buy for his mother when he had gathered enough pennies.
"A penny saved is a penny earned", his father always said and his father was always right. It would require too many pennies to buy his mother a winter coat. The shawl would keep her comfortable through the long winter to come, and she would be proud to wear it. It was a clear night, and the penny looked at the silvery beams of the full moon which was smiling down at it. The Moon was round like the Penny but far more beautiful.
"How I wish I could be grand and silvery like the Moon", sighed the Penny. "Then all the world would admire me!"
The Penny looked around at the small room in which it was. The thin, sleeping boy, the worn green carpet, an old mended cap thrown next to thread-bare shoes. It spoke to the Moon. "How I wish I could be like you", he murmured wistfully. Suddenly he heard a voice that seemed to come like a soft murmur from all around him. Startled, the penny looked around and saw nobody but the sleeping boy. "I am an old Moon", said the voice.
"Therefore I am also very wise and know everything there is to know."
"How can that be?" asked the Penny." You are beautiful, I know. But you are so far away, to be admired for your luster and your gentle light. Knowledge, however, comes from close observation."
"If I can see everything, I can know everything", said the Moon, somewhat smugly, and prepared to close the subject as a cloud came drifting by.
"No, Moon, listen to me", said the Penny. "There is much to know of things you cannot see..." The Penny was upset. True, it was faded and dull from use and handling by rich and poor alike. It envied the Moon its beauty and the self-assurance the Moon displayed but it could not agree that the Moon knew everything.
"Have you ever been inside a poor man's pocket?" asked the Penny. "Have you ever been tossed into the gutter? I can see the stars from the gutter, better than you can because you are too close to them. Have you heard the clinging and the clanging of a cash register? "Of course not," said the Moon quite loftily. "Why would I be interested in things like that?"
"Have you ever seen the extravagant inside of a rich man's house? Or heard the rich man's pretty young wife demand more diamonds? Have you been inside the gray shacks of the poor where cold and famine rule supreme? Have you seen young lovers with shining eyes? Lovers have no time for you, Moon, they only look at each other, and their love transcends all other things. Love is a wondrous emotion, and I have known it. How much you have missed, Moon!"
The Moon grew thoughtful and did not answer. Isolated in its beauty, it really knew nothing of these things. Actually, it did not understand why such trivia should be of any significance. Was the Moon not admired by all? Musicians and poets had written about it's light, and many people believed that the Moon had mystical powers. Finally, the Moon thought of a reply.
"I give pleasure and that should be enough", said the Moon. "Is pleasure not what all people seek?"
The penny was aghast.
"My dear Moon, pleasure is not an end in itself! How is it that you think that pleasure is enough for a mother who cannot feed her child? For a husband who has no money to buy medicine for his ailing wife? For a young man and a young girl who love each other desperately but are kept apart because the young man has no money? While rich men eat more than is good for them, poor men - with their hungry bellies - look for work to earn pennies like me to feed their families. I really think I must be quite important because people have need of me, even though I may be plain and small."
"Oh, Moon", continued the Penny. "I wish your beams were made of real silver and could spread warmth to those who are cold. Why are you not more like the Sun? The Sun gives light and warmth and makes all things grow."
At the mention of the Sun, the Moon became jealous. "The Sun is foolish", declared the Moon caustically. "It withers nature and opens plants too hastily. It has no patience such as mine. It makes people lazy and self - indulgent by warming them too much. Only when I come, are people relaxed and happy. Do not speak to me of the silly Sun."
The Penny was sad. How could he make the Moon understand that the earth needed them both - Sun and Moon?
"There is a time for joy and work" tried the Penny. "But there is also a time for contemplation and rest. Moon, the balance of the universe is important to every living thing."
"I have traveled widely", the Penny went on. "I was there when men wept because of injustice. I was there when avarice controlled their souls. And I was there when kindness and generosity flourished. Have you seen the sacrifice when a young child gave his last piece of bread to a beggar who was faint from hunger? With my friends, I could wipe away the tears of children who suffered from need. I was there when a boy in love bought a bunch of violets for his beloved when she was to marry another the same day and I still feel his tears on me.
No, Moon, what you have seen of life is little. Even though you are beautiful, you know nothing of life, and therefore you know nothing at all. I am sorry for you." Daylight was breaking. After such a trivial conversation, the Moon wrapped itself into a white cloud and prepared to withdraw.
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The little boy was stirring in his bed. And the Penny? The little Penny was weeping softly. The windowsill became quite wet with its tears. It had been an admirer of the Moon but knew now that the moon was distant and cold and uncaring. The disillusionment was hard to bear.
A ray of sunshine entered the small room. It looked at the Penny, and it knew what had taken place because it was never far away, even during the night. Gently, it kissed the Penny's tears until each one shone like a precious diamond. There were sapphires, emeralds, and pure white diamonds on the windowsill now. The little Penny stopped weeping when it felt the warmth of the sun. Amazed, it looked around at the diamonds. From where had they come? "They came from your heart, little Penny," smiled the sun-ray. "You may be plain and worn but you have a heart of gold." "Can that be true?" cried the penny in delight, "Then I am not as insignificant as I had thought!"
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The boy awoke and saw the brilliant colors on the windowsill. He called for his mother who had been waiting with his porridge.
When she came up, the boy gathered the diamonds and gave them to her. "Is it colored glass? How lovely it is!" said the mother gently to her only child. "Mother, I will take them to the jeweler around the corner." The boy had trouble breathing from the excitement. "They are jewels, I just know."
"Jewels..." sighed the mother. "That would be grand indeed. We would eat chicken tonight... with peas and carrots."
They are for you, Mother," said the boy solemnly. "But I will take them to the jeweler." The jewels were more magnificent than the old jeweler had ever seen, and he gave the boy a sack full of shiny new pennies for just one of them.
That night, the boy and his mother had a delicious roasted chicken on the table. There were also dishes of peas, carrots, and potatoes. Father, who was bent from arthritis from working long and heavy hours in the sawmill, came to the table. He could barely believe his eyes. There was a fire in the hearth, and a bunch of violets graced the table. The mother loved violets because they smelled so sweet. But she was smiling because of the excitement and joy she sensed in her dear little family. "Who could ask for more?" she said, content and basking in the warmth of her loved ones. How excited they were!
The mother was genuinely happy for the first time since her son had been born.
After the wonderful supper, the family sat by the fireplace, where the father could relax and smoke his pipe. As so often happened, the mother told a story, and then she asked her son to go to bed because it was becoming late. In his room, the boy spotted the penny on the window sill. "You poor, worn out thing," he said. "I have so many shining new pennies now that I have no need of you." He took the penny and tossed it into the wastepaper basket.
The End
© 2009 Amy Thompson