Lucky Coin

 

            Kari loved being outside almost as much as she loved teaching yoga. Both things gave her peace. Today, she was hiking up in the mountains, only about 30 minutes from her home. It was a trail that she had been on many times before that ended with a spectacular view of the city from above.

            Hiking helped Kari sort out her thoughts and just be able to think. It was almost as good as meditation. She had a lot to think about at the moment. The rent for her yoga studio was almost due, and she didn’t know where she would get the money for it.

            “If only my landlord would accept a late payment,” she said out loud. A group of hikers who were on their way down looked at Kari curiously. Kari liked to talk to herself, but it often got her strange looks from other people. She immediately looked down to avoid the stares from the other hikers.

            There was a flashing glint of gold in the middle of the trail, just a few steps ahead of Kari. Quickly, she moved toward it and kicked it with her boot. A golden coin flashed as it rolled on top of the dirt. She picked it up to get a better look.

            The coin looked like it had once shone brightly, but was now fairly worn and old. It was a golden, metal coin, and it had a picture of a horseshoe on one side and a four-leaf clover on the other.

            “Cool!” Kari said with interest. She stuck it in her pack and continued to hike.

            As Kari neared the mountain peak, she noticed some storm clouds rolling in and thought, Oh please, not yet. She picked up her pace, knowing that she would most likely be walking back to her car wet.

            A few minutes later, Kari looked down at the city below from the top of the mountain. She took the opportunity to do a sun salutation. She always felt better when she took a few moments to stretch before heading back down the trail.

            Feeling ready to head back down, and knowing that a storm was rolling in, Kari set off at a near run. It was growing dark quickly. She passed a few other hikers on her way down that appeared to be soaked to the skin, but Kari reached her car without feeling a drop of rain. As soon as she got inside her car, however, it started to pour. “Well, that was lucky,” she said under her breath.

            Kari drove home for some quick dinner and a shower before she went to teach her evening yoga class. She forgot about the coin she had found until it fell out of her pack. She studied it and wondered if it would be worth anything. She knew a woman, Isla, who worked as a coin collector. She usually came to Kari’s evening class. Maybe she would know about the coin.

            An hour later, Kari was at her yoga studio, preparing for the class. She was relieved to see that Isla had come tonight. Kari led everyone through the different poses and felt like she had an unusually good yoga session. The whole class seemed to be in a great mood.

            Then Kari’s great mood deflated when she saw her landlord step into the studio just before class ended. She stopped herself from groaning out loud, but just barely. She knew he was there to ask her about the rent. As soon as everyone said “Namaste,” he was on his way over to her.

            Kari tried not to look too put out as she stood up to greet him. She wasn’t sure what she was going to say, but he got right to the point. “Your rent is due tomorrow,” he said quickly.

            “I know,” Kari said, somewhat nervously. “I’m trying to get it together, but I might be…”

            Her landlord waved her explanation away. “I came to tell you that there’s been a mix-up in our accounts. You’re actually good for another month, because you were accidentally charged an extra month’s rent about a year ago.”

            Kari felt her mouth drop open, and then quickly closed it. She remembered thinking that she had double paid the rent once, but the landlord had assured her then that she hadn’t. “Thank you,” she finally said, seeing that he was waiting for her to say something. He just nodded and left.

            Feeling somewhat dazed, Kari started to roll up her yoga mat and then remembered about the coin. She spotted Isla, and walked over to her. They chatted for a few minutes about the yoga class and then Kari brought out her coin.

            Isla immediately looked interested and asked, “Where did you get that?”

            “I found it on my hike today,” Kari answered. “I’m sure it just fell out of someone’s pocket or something. Do you know what kind of coin it is?”

            Isla held it up and examined it closely. “Well, it definitely looks old. A lot of the ridges on the images have been worn smooth. I haven’t seen this kind of coin before, so I couldn’t tell you exactly how much it’s worth. Must be lucky though, with the horseshoe and the four-leaf clover. Probably a token from an arcade somewhere.” She handed the coin back to Kari. “I doubt that it’s worth much,” she said apologetically.

            Kari took the coin and pocketed it. She thanked Isla and got everything put away. Later, when she was at home, she took out the coin again to look at it. “Lucky, huh?” She turned it over and thought about her day. It had gone unusually well since she had found this little coin. She wasn’t really superstitious, but if this coin was giving her good luck, she would let it.

            After that night, Kari kept the coin in her wallet and was rarely without it. Some people called her naturally lucky. Things always seemed to go the way she wanted them. Kari would just smile, knowing where her luck really came from.