Carefree, my small daughter Lucy and I are kicking up autumn leaves in the park when an elderly lady approaches, holding out a silver coin.
“I just found this shilling on the ground, dear. I’m giving it to you to bring you good luck.”
Lucy does not realise that shillings haven’t been legal tender for more than forty years. This coin is a modern ten pence piece.
“Thank you,” says Lucy.
Smiling back, the elderly lady moves on in her own little world of five decades ago.
“She will need more luck in her autumn than we do,” I murmur.
We are kinder to the leaves on our way home.
(If you enjoyed this story, you might like to know that it's included, along with 19 other similar short pieces, in my book "Quick Change", now available to download as an ebook for Kindle. Paperback and more editions to follow this autumn.)
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Quick Change
Short StorySample stories from my first flash fiction collection, Quick Change, published on 21st June 2014 - short, light-hearted tales about aspects of change in life, from cradle to grave. "Very subtle, very English, very clever" & "a delight to read" say...
