romac

I was six years old. I had recently started going to school for the first time (my parents had been abroad). Getting to the school involved taking two buses - for the first, into the city centre, my mother accompanied me - she would then leave me in the queue for the second bus, giving me two pennies for my fare to the school and back (yes, this was a long time ago). In the afternoon she would travel into the city centre to meet me off the bus. One morning she forgot to give me the two pennies - I didn't realise until I was on the bus, and all I had with me was a single penny, which I gave to the conductor. I don't think I've ever felt more desperate than I did that morning - I just couldn't imagine how I could get home at all without my bus fare - I was scared of the teacher and never even thought of telling her - in fact I didn't tell anybody - I was very new at the school and didn't know anybody to tell. At break time, I was standing watching a group of older girls play Oranges and Lemons. As the girls danced under the raised arch ( "Here comes a chopper to chop off your head..."), one of the girls danced through, saw me standing there, and pressed something into my hand, saying "Would you like these?". When I looked it was four farthings, which were still legal tender in those days. To me it was like an answer to prayer. I didn't know the girl and never before or since have I felt so desperate about the lack of a particular amount of money, and never before or since has any money, let alone the exact amount I was worried about, been given to me, totally unprompted and unexpectedly, by a stranger. What are the chances? ( When I gave the four farthings to the conductor on the bus that afternoon, he looked at them and laughed - farthings were already very unusual.)