"Okay, Copper, you can do it," Dollar Coinman encouraged. "It's your natural talent; it's in your blood."
The tiny fairy furrowed her barely-there eyebrows as she directed all of her thoughts into creating her first coin. Watching her, Dollar found it adorable how hard her little one-year-old was trying. She was such a smart and talented girl already. Dollar felt lucky to be her mom.
"You're almost there, you can do it," Dollar urged her. "I believe in you, Copper."
Copper Diamond closed her penny-colored eyes and took a breath. When she opened her eyes again, there it was in front of her. On the floor sat a little silver circle of metal, worth twenty-five cents. Copper let out a joyful gasp, her eyes wide at the sight of what her newfound abilities could do.
Dollar smiled warmly and congratulated her. "Wow, you did it! You've used your charge! Great job."
A drawling voice from the other room distracted the young mother. "Did I hear that our baby did magic?"
Her smile became slightly weaker. "Yes, Will," she said. "Our little girl is growing up so fast."
"That's great, Doll," her husband called back.
She sighed softly. "Please stop calling me Doll, Will," she replied, but she doubted he was even paying attention anymore. Naturally, the flying races on TV were more important than his daughter's first time using her charge outside the tests. Dollar stared into her lap, lost in thought.
Meanwhile, Copper was wandering over to a brown sack that sat on the low coffee table. Her little hands grabbed at the edges and pulled them outward, and she peered at the sparkling grains that sat inside.
"Sugar?" she guessed, her tiny wings fluttering with excitement.
Setting her freshly made quarter on the table next to it, she pulled at the sack, trying to reach its contents (not sugar).
William Crack stumbled into the living room, too lazy to fly or Evaporate. "Hey, Doll, when's dinner?" He eyed his daughter messing around by the table with the Enchantment, but he made no verbal note of it even though his wife was completely oblivious.
"Whenever I make it, Will," sighed Dollar. From her exasperated tone it was obvious that they had been over this already.
"So . . . when will that be?"
Not for the first time, Dollar wondered why she had ever married this man. And not for the first time, she had no answer.
Before Dollar could respond to Will, Copper finally succeeded in her task of obtaining the "sugar." She ended up dumping it all across the coffee table - and in the process, completely burying her quarter.
"Aw, look at the mess she's made," Will complained, pointing. "That's a brand-new coffee table."
Dollar glanced quickly at her daughter. "Oh, Copper," she muttered, a bit frustrated but still in a gentle way. "You aren't allowed to play with the Enchantment, honey. It's special." She fluttered over to help clean up.
Once most of the magical particles were back inside the sack, Dollar noticed something. "Oh, sweetie, what happened to your quarter? Did you lose it?"
The baby just shrugged and sat there innocently.
"It was on that table," observed Will. "Guess it's gone now. Too much Enchantment, maybe. But she can always make more."
"But Will," said Dollar with a frown, "that was her first coin."
Her very first time using her charge, and now the memory was lost.
"It's not like we'll be sent to jail if we don't follow the tradition of keeping her first creation," he scoffed. "And like I said, she can make more."
Dollar sighed once again, wondering where the quarter had gone.
Rain pelted the sidewalk, causing a flood of water to escape down into the ground. The weatherman had observed that this was the most rain the town had gotten in five years, and most citizens were not prepared. Water fell from the sky in a constant downpour, and it didn't seem to be letting up.
Those brave souls who had ventured outside in this weather regretted it when their umbrellas were beaten at violently by the rain, or sometimes even torn away by the gusts of wind. Only one woman on the sidewalk had an umbrella that was still functioning.
Lila McCarthy did not regret going outside in this weather - after all, it was to collect more paints and brushes, which she desperately needed. Luckily, her umbrella seemed to be working and successfully protecting her from the onslaught of rain. Lila loved the sound of the rain, too - the soft patter of the water on the nylon material of the umbrella.
Plink. Plink. Plink.
CLUNK.
What was that? Lila wondered, quickly looking at the ground. Somehow, a coin had mysteriously fallen from the sky and landed on her umbrella, then splashed into a nearby puddle. What on Earth . . . She bent down and inspected the coin. It appeared to be a normal, everyday quarter, nothing special, so she just stuck it in her pocket and continued her journey down the street.
The guest bedroom door slammed closed and finally, the house went eerily silent. After she was certain that her husband had fallen asleep in the other room, Lila quietly crept out of the master bedroom with her duffel bag and tiptoed down the stairs. She made sure that her lucky quarter was safely tucked away in her jacket pocket and thought desperately, Don't fail me now, quarter. This needs to go smoothly. As much as she hated leaving her daughters, Lila knew that it was the only way to get out of the relationship.
Right before she twisted open the front door, Lila realized she had forgotten her car keys. She quickly put down the duffel bag and took off her jacket so as to not make noise, and went to go rummage through the living room.
Once she found the keys, she grabbed her bag and sped away into the night.
