“Find a penny, pick it up and all day long you'll have good luck,” chorused David as he reached down to pick up the tarnished jewel.
“There’s no such thing as luck,” said Kyle.
The boys were walking home on an autumn afternoon from the school bus stop. Kyle's depression was getting worse. He just hadn't been the same since his dad moved out.
David knew they were getting a divorce but his mom had told him it was impolite to talk to Kyle about it.
“Here,” David said, putting the penny in Kyle’s hand, “You’ll see. This penny is really lucky. I can feel it.
Kyle shrugged, “I doubt that. What good is a penny? You can’t buy anything with it and it sure ain’t gonna fix my mom and dad. It won’t bring them luck.”
David kicked a rock with his right foot, unsure what to say to his friend.
“The penny ain’t for them. It’s for you. Like it or not, Kyle, you are going to have to cheer up and deal with the fact that your dad isn't going to live with you anymore.”
“Yeah, I guess,” Kyle said, walking through the yard leading to his house, “See you tomorrow.”
“Don’t loose your penny,” David said with a smile. He was determined to prove to Kyle that it really would bring him luck even if it couldn’t fix his parents.
“Hi, I’m home,” David called out as he walked through the kitchen door.
“How was school?” his mom asked, as she hung up the phone.
“Good ‘cept Kyle’s still real sad about his Mom and Dad. How can I cheer him up? I found him a lucky penny, but he didn’t think it would bring him much luck.”
“I was just talking to his mom and she has a great idea about how to cheer him up, but needs our help," David's mom said, "Grab your coat. We’re going for a ride.”
David grabbed his jacket and pulled it on over his shoulders.
“Where are we going?” he asked.
“You’ll see.”
Soon they arrived at the local animal shelter.
“What are we doing here, mom? We already have a dog and two cats.”
“The puppy’s not for us, David. It’s for Kyle.”
“COOL!” shouted David, anxious to pick the pup out.
They returned home with an eight week old copper-colored dashhound mix. She was short and stumpy and unbelievably cute. At dusk, David and his mom left the puppy on Kyle’s front porch, rang the doorbell, and ran away.
The next morning David could hardly wait to walk to the bus stop with Kyle. When the time came, he ran to his friend's house, attempting to appear unexcited.
“Come in and see what I got,” Kyle said. “You were right! I’m lucky.”
“What did you get?” David asked, even though he already knew.
“Look!” Kyle said, pointing to the puppy yapping happily at the boys from its box.
David bent down to pat it’s head.
“It was just sittin’ on our porch last night with a note sayin’ it was for me,” Kyle explained.
“See,” said David, “I knew that coin would bring you luck. What did you name her?”
Kyle smiled broadly, “Penny.”