The Coin
    
I was walking home from school with my friend Lily. “Whoever gets to your house first wins!” yelled Lily.

“Lily, wait,” I said. Too late. Lily was running toward my house. Oh well. I could just not run the race. Here is why: When Lily sped off, I caught a glimpse of something shiny on the sidewalk. It was a beautiful coin. I picked it up. It had something written on it. DO NOT TOUCH OR ELSE, it said. It was probably just because it was so beautiful. Nothing bad is going to happen, I thought. But I was wrong.

I slipped the coin into the pocket of my sweater. I walked home. When I opened the door, Sam the cat pounced on my sweater, tearing it to pieces. The coin tinkled as it landed on the floor. What has gotten into him? He isn’t usually this vicious.

I picked up the coin and put it into the pocket of my shirt and went outside to play. I climbed up into my tree house and read for a bit. Then I climbed down. On the way my shirt got caught on a branch and ripped.

I changed. Then I put the coin in the pocket of my jeans. I immediately took it out. It dawned on me. “Do not touch or else” was true! I ran outside and threw the coin down the sewer.

Later, when I opened the fridge, everything tumbled out at me. Inside the fridge was the coin! I slammed the fridge shut, took the coin, and smashed it to pieces with my father’s ax.

I went out to dinner and ordered a milk shake. I sat down drinking it. It spilled all over my clothes. Inside the cup was the coin all glued together again!

Just then I woke up. I sighed with relief. I got up to take Fred the dog for his morning walk. I saw the coin on the sidewalk. This time I knew not to touch it.