The Sparkle of Happiness

it was getting awfully dusty on the ground.  People kept walking by and kicking up dirt with their shoes on they walked down the  long dirt road.  Jake was beginning to wonder if he was going to suffocate in the dirt as he laid there waiting for someone to pick him up.  Figures that his owner would forget that he had a hole in his jeans pocket just big enough for Jake to slip right through.  Now here he was stuck, trying not to choke!  Oh sometimes he really wished he was something else!

“Mommy. Mommy, look what I found!”  Jake felt himself being grabbed by a small hand.  Liam held him up for his Mom to see, as she smiled down at him.  Hold it tight so that you don’t drop it.  ” Don’t worry, I will”, and he squeezed poor Jake until he got really hot inside Liam’s hand.

“Ahhh!, some fresh air”,  thought Jake when Liam opened up his hand and wiped Jake  off.  He was shiny once again.  Liam was proud of his shine.  He had seen some friends of his that could definitely use a makeover!  They were pretty dull looking,  they  still were great guys though!  Oh they had tales to tell of all the places that they had been.  Some had quite the journeys.  What they looked like didn’t reveal all the secrets they held inside of them.  Sometimes you had to look past the dirt and grime to see that they still sparkled on the inside.

Before he knew it Jake was tightly squeezed again and they turned off the dirt road into a little candy shop.  “Mommy, Mommy!  Can I have some candy? ”  Liam’s Mommy said yes and Liam proudly handed Jake over to the man behind the counter.   Jake got dropped into a little box where there were lots of others like him.  He was glad to be out of the sweaty hands.

It wasn’t long though before Jake really started not liking the box that he was in.  He was thinking that Liam’s sweaty hands may not have been so bad after all.  Sometimes we don’t know how good we have it.   It was very dark when the box was closed.  Plus Jake kept jumping whenever the box would pop out!  It also was starting to give him a headache with all the clinking around that he would keep hearing.

At last Jake got rescued,  picked up and handed to someone else.  The Man took Jake in one hand and took the licorice that he had just bought in the other hand.   OH MY!  Jake was having trouble not gagging at the strong licorice smell.

They left the Candy Shop and walked out into the sunshine and fresh air again, that helped take the smell away!  Jake heard the sound of running water.  Oh No! Jake knew what that sound may mean for him.  He had heard from many of his friends about  being tossed into fountains.  About how cold the water was!  Jake was not a fan of cold water.  There were some friends of his though that said they were glad to be tossed into the fountain.  They remembered the little prayers their owners would quietly say before tossing them in.  They felt important at those times.

The Man sat down by the fountain for a bit as Jake held his breath.  Then the Man got up and walked away and Jake could breathe again, it  looked like he had  escaped that close call.  Perhaps someday he could be tossed into the fountain to give someone hope, but he wasn’t sure he wanted to do that today.

They made it home,  at least Jake assumed it was the Man’s house for he had  walked right in the door.  Jake got laid down on a little wooden table right inside the door.  Again there were some friends there, so Jake started chatting.  He wasn’t shy at all, he enjoyed meeting new people.  Always something that  you could learn from their stories.

Jake enjoyed resting and hanging out for awhile.  The  moon would shine in the window signalling the end of another day and Jake and his friends would rest.  Then they were awake as soon as the sun rose in the sky.  New friends would come some days and other days the old friends would leave.  Jake was beginning to get restless, he was ready to leave  for some type of adventure.

One day it happened.  He got picked up by the Man as he headed out the door.  He got put into a tiny little pocket.  Oh No!  A pocket again, would he have better luck this time.  The pocket was in a hat that the Man placed on top of his head and then he started walking.  Well this was interesting, can’t say he ever had had been so high up before.  The pocket wasn’t shut real tight, so he could still see some light coming in.  He also had some other friends to get to know.  They chatted as the Man kept walking.

Once during their walk the Man stopped and took off the hat and continued on.

“Wow!  Now this definitely was an adventure!  Jake had fallen out of the pocket once again and he was riding on top of the Man’s bare head!  Well there were some little wisps of hair, but really just a wisp.  Rubbed up against Jake causing him to let out a little chuckle at the sensation of the wisps of hair against him.  He felt the sunlight beaming down on him and he felt so toasty warm.  He had trouble seeing though due to the glare coming off the Man’s head.

They entered  a coffee shop, Jake smelled the pleasant aroma as soon as they entered the door.  Jake began to wonder how long he would stay on the Man’s head, he was getting a little nervous about falling.  It would be quite a distance to fall for one so small!

Jake didn’t have to worry too long.  He felt the Man’s hand on him pulling him off.  He also caught a glimpse of the Man’s red face as he laid him on the table next to his friends once again.

This time a lady with a sweet smile scooped them all up and put them in her pocket as she walked around the shop and kept adding more and more friends to her pocket.

Jake must have dozed off for it felt like he had been in her pocket forever, yet she was still walking around.  At last the lady walked outside, now it was dark!  They sure had been in that Coffee Shop a long time!

The cool air woke him up even more.  The lady walked across the street and entered a building.  He heard her on her phone saying something about a grocery store.  Yes,  Jake thought he had been in them before.  She was pretty fast grabbing some things.  He heard her keep muttering to herself at how sore her feet were.  Jake wondered what it would be like to have feet and not have to be carried everywhere.  He thought it would be nice at times,  but hey he had a special ride that day.  He had a ride on top of a man’s head!  He had already told all his friends about it and would repeat the story each time that the lady would drop a new friend into her pocket.  Some stories just never grew old!

She was complaining about her feet, but he also heard definite excitement in her voice!  ” Yes Lisa, I made it!  Tonight was worth it!  I finally have enough to go on that week-end getaway!  It has been so very long since I have been able to get away as you well know!  I have been saving and saving and it finally paid off.  Can’t wait until next weekend!”

Jake felt happy that she sounded so happy.  Now she was just standing still and waiting.   “Lisa, I have to go now, almost ready to check out.  We are going to have a blast next week-end!”

What was that?  Now it sounded like someone was upset.  “Lady,  this gift card is no good! There is no more left on it!”

“No, that can’t be!  My children need this food.  Oh No! What am I going to do!  This nightmare just never ends!”  Jake didn’t recognize the voices, but could tell that the lady’s voice was very upset.   Then he heard the voice of the lady whose pocket he was in.  He heard her as he felt himself being picked up along with his friends.

“Here Ma’am, take this please!”   All of his friends were picked up as they were handed to the other lady.  His shiny friends like him, and some of the not so shiny ones, plus his very large friends.  They were large which  had been scary at first to him,  but he soon found out that they were very soft and friendly.  All of them were handed to the other lady that had been so upset.

Jake hadn’t been around for a real long time, but he knew what crying sounded like and he felt a tear drop fall on him as he was laid in the lady’s open hands.  “How can I ever thank you!”  Jake heard the lady say.

” Your smile is thanks enough!  Have a good night and when you have a chance,  pass on a smile to someone else!”   Jake felt squeezed again very tightly as he heard the other  lady say , ” I sure will!  I sure will!  Bless you my dear!”

Jake wasn’t quite sure, but he felt a warm sensation go through him.  Not being hot from being squeezed, but feeling warmth for another reason.  He felt that he and his friends may have just  played a role in being part of a miracle.

Yes, sometimes he would get all sweaty and dirty and be in the dark, but as of right now Jake was shining inside and thinking that he was very  thankful for who he was!  There really was nothing else that he would rather be!

When I started writing this, I had no idea where it was going to lead.  I wanted to mention that I am grateful to Colin, who gave me some suggestions  of  things that I could possibly write about, when needing some inspiration.  Writing about a coin was one of them.   Inspiration can come through so many forms, glad that friends are one very good source! 🙂