I Say Roosevelt Got Me

My 10 Cents In

Jingling as it fell to the ground, it circled itself a few times and was then silent. It rested Roosevelt looking upward. As I bent to pick it up I also looked to see where it’s source had been. I had heard that dimes are good luck, now I believed it. The only person in sight was Susan. Each step she traveled took her farther from the dropped dime and further from me.

Now having the dime in my hand I began to quickly advance toward Susan. Her hair was pulled up and the sun shining on it made it seem as if it were a halo. I thought that it was. A red waist length cotton coat covered the top half of her black ankle length dress, which though long did not hide her beauty. Far from hiding it, the dress ended at her bare ankles where they entered a pair of the most eloquent flip-flop sandals I had seen.

Suddenly and oddly, I began to walk slower. In all her beauty would she care for one dime? Did she even drop it? Of course she had, there was no one else around. But why would she want it? It’s just a dime. But this is the opportunity I have been waiting for. What if I look terrible? There is no mirror around.

Awakened from my thoughts I hear a small splash. Looking down I see that I have stepped in a puddle of water. I stopped. After the water settled I checked my hair and face; satisfactory.
Deciding that I could not pass up this opportunity I began to quicken my stride toward her as I saw her getting her keys out. Not in the normal way that most people pull their keys out but like a bride picking up the ring to place on her grooms finger, I cleared my throat one time before I approached her.

Quickly I glanced over at my car; I always parked next to Susan. My time meter had expired and out of habit I reached into my pocket for some change. Still unconsciously searching I approached her.

“Susan.” I dug around in my pocket, but couldn’t find any change.
“Yes?” Oh, gosh. She sounded better in person.

“I, um, think you,” I now knew that the change I had in my pocket was no longer there, “ didn’t drop this dime, but my name is Keith.”

“What about the dime?” I really wished it was hers.

“Never mind. I thought you dropped this, but you didn’t.”

“Ok.” She got in her car and closed the door. She did smile. I went back to my car and put the dime in the meter; went back further and picked up the other change that fell out of my pocket onto the grass.