Young Johnny Porter stood in front of the glass display case eyeing all the candy. He had his hand dug deep into his pocket with his tiny fist wrapped around some coins. Loosening his grip on them he jingled the shiny coins and tried to identify each coin by sound rather than by size or shape. He waited in line patiently for his turn at the candy counter. Mr. Pearson would be calling on him next “Ahh, Master Porter, what can I get for you today?” Johnny smiled. He loved it when Mr. Pearson treated him as an adult, even though he was only seven years old. With his hand still clenched around the handful of coins, Johnny struggled to get his hand out of the pocket. He knew that he had to loosen his grip and let a few coins fall back down into his pocket lining. They jingled in a muffled array of shiny sounds. Extracting his hand from the confines of the pocket, he carefully dropped the smaller handful of coins onto the granite counter in front of Mr. Pearson. More shiny sounds. Quickly, he put his hand back in and once more labored to retrieve the remaining coins then dropped them on to the other pile. “Today’s my birthday Mr. Pearson and my parents said I am allowed to spend my savings on ANYTHING I want.” “Is that so? Well then, what is it that you think you want?” “Well, I know my mom likes those sweet tarts, so can I please have a pack of those. And my dad, he says he likes those candy cigarettes, you know, the ones with the red ends on them. He says they’re better for you than the real kind.” Mr. Pearson smiled. “And if I have enough money, can I please get a pack of hockey cards for my brother?” Mr. Pearson fetched all of the items Johnny requested, placing each item on the counter for Johnny to inspect and approve. He then took out a small brown paper bag for candy and placed everything inside. Scooping up all the change Johnny had dropped on the counter, he counted it. “Oh dear” he exclaimed. Johnny looked nervously at Mr. Pearson thinking that he didn’t have enough to pay for it all. “It seems that you have given me too much money Master Porter.” Johnny, somewhat surprised, held out his hand to receive the excess change. Wide-eyed, Johnny looked at Mr. Pearson in disbelief as every last coin was returned to him.
“Happy birthday Master Porter.”
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