I feel someone pick me up off the ground.
It’s a little girl.
She crumples me up in her pocket and my journey begins.
Her pink rain boots splash as she runs into the candy store.
“Spend me, spend me,” I chant
All of a sudden she takes me out and lays me on a counter and I am given to the cashier.
I stay in the cash register until his lunch break,
then he looks around and shoves me into the pocket of his baggy jeans.
From there I am given to a woman at McDonald’s.
She presses me into the hands of a man sitting on the street corner, holding a cardboard sign.
Who exchanges me for a small package of mints. Now I belong to the clerk.
The clerk takes me on an airplane
Suddenly I am converted into euros
And he puts me on a restaurant table, where I am picked up by a young waiter
And spent on a pair of heels as red as a stop sign.
The merchant grabs me and shoves me in his pocket
and brings me to a building called a bank
And I’m thrown into a vault. I spend years and years there
Until finally I’m rescued by a burly man in a black mask
The sound of sirens and the quick patter of feet overwhelm me.
All of a sudden I fly out of the bag and into a murky puddle, splash,
I lie there, awaiting my next journey.
Ruthie Isaacson is a ninth grader at Gretna High School! When she’s not writing, she’s reading, playing tennis, or competing at show choir! She also represents her school as a student council leader!