Windows

The following day Wendy immediately reached for her pocket as she woke up. There was nothing in it, and it didn't surprise her. She knew it had to be a dream. There was no way some crazy valuable coin flew in her window from an empty street in the middle of the night. As she turned to sit up and put her feet on the floor, her hands came down, and under one hand was a piece of metal. The coin. It must have slipped from her pocket as she slept. OK, now she was very wide awake and becoming concerned. Was someone going to start combing the streets and going door to door looking for their lost money? She would be doing precisely that it was her misplaced riches.

She didn't know whether to say something to her mother or not. Real money could help in so many ways, especially with her education. They didn't have to rely on charity to get by now if she only said something. Her persistent disbelief that this coin didn't exist, combined with her resignation about her poverty, kept her from running to her mother with it. If she could elevate her position even a little, no family member could tell her how to do that. No one could guide her on what to do with the coin to use it wisely. They never had this kind of money, ever. She also remembered her mother's words about money binding people, not freeing them. She thought about the simple fact that, until this coin appeared, she had no money and no actual binding. Now she realized as she held this coin that she felt its strings begin to gather tightly around her.

"To mother," she decided. It was going to her mother. But her mother was already gone to work by now, and Wendy had school, what little was left of it. She got up and put the coin in her purse. She had a nice bag her mother let her keep instead of selling it for money to buy food. It was given to Wendy as a tip from one of the patrons at the hotel. The lady had purchased a new purse at the 'finest shop in town' and, instead of merely throwing her old one away, gave it as a tip to Wendy. The money would have been preferred, but Wendy needed a purse then. This one was nice, beyond her means to buy, and worth far more than any tip would have been. Her mother saw in her eyes her daughter's appreciation for the purse despite any hunger and so conceded it. They had enough food. They could sell the bag later if needed, so she could keep it while they were doing well at getting by.

School went as usual for Wendy, but she was distracted. She looked in her purse casually but often waited to wake up and have there be no coin. It persisted in staying and taunting her fate. It stole her focus and even angered her a little at its ability to pull her away from remembering who she was in life instead of who she dreamed of being very secretly. Nobody dreams of being a servant, a maid, a dishwasher, or a ditch digger. Not that she was aware of. She thought you accepted what came to you to provide for you in life. But where would she go if she could be free and somehow ignore the need to provide for that daily requirement of life just for a while? What did she want to do or see? Who did she want to be, even if just for a day? This coin reached out and beaconed her. It could do that at the end of her schooling for her. It could take her almost anywhere and bring her back home again.

After school, she headed straight for the hotel. She got in and dressed, got her assignment, and went to it like any other day. As she tidied up the beds and room for an active customer, she had learned to strictly mind her business unless a customer addressed her needing something. She was a maid, not a manservant, but she could be polite and helpful. She got better tips if she went overboard for a patron. "Miss, could you come here a moment" this customer addressed her, and she was very attentive in an occupied room. "Ma'am, how can I help you today?" she said to the very well-dressed lady. "I was wondering if you had heard anything about that accident yesterday with the bank truck. The one that tipped over in an accident, bursting open and losing thousands of gold and silver coins that went everywhere. It was the talk all over the town." the lady asked.