A Euro, No More
- Zabrina Q.
- Feb 17, 2019
- 1 min read
Based on a true story
The man couldn’t have been younger than forty-five by looks. But then, sweat and dirt always found a way to age people. He sat with a whistle between his lips and a shallow pan beside him containing three small coins. The tune carried with the wind across the town square; a sorrowful sort of sound.
A girl walked past. She stopped. Turning around, she walked back to stand before him and drop a coin into the pan.
“I think it’s a pound. Not sure," she said.
“No, no pounds. Euros please,” the man bent over to look at the coin. “Wait, no, no — this is a euro.”
She pulled out another coin from her wallet, “I have this too.”
“This is good. This is a euro.”
“Are you sure that that is a euro?”
“It is.”
"No more than one?"
"No more."
She knelt down before him, “But sir, you're lying,” She looked into his eyes, “This is more than a euro.”
The man’s eyes flickered. The eyes of an animal. Caught. Looking for an escape. It quickly passed. He responded, “Yes, you are right. It is more than one.” He held out the coin for her to take it back. She looked at it.
A pause.
“You were honest after I pointed out your lie. Most wouldn’t give it back.” She reached in her pocket for something and then held it out, “I want you to have these.”
Clasping his hands, she pressed five euros into his creased fingers and walked off.
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