Twenty-Cent Coin

My third attempt of writing a short story. Be brutally honest with your comment.

Gilbert and I arrived at the out-of-the-way desert town some time at one in the somnolent July afternoon. The first thing that greeted our eyes was the chassis of a horse-drawn carriage. It stood forlornly before a row of tombstone-like old shop buildings. In the distance was a mountain of rocky stature. Totally still and devoid of life, the uninhabited town exuded an air of quiescent melancholy.

We got out of our car and walked towards the carriage. The gritty sand crunched under the weight of our treading feet. It was the only sound we could hear besides the hollow whistling of the wind. I was uneasy in the oppressive silence. I did not know why we came here. Gilbert and I had been on our way to Yellowstone National Park before he took the sudden decision to come to the long-abandoned town. If Gilbert had set his mind on something, there was no stopping him.

Walking with long strides, Gilbert was a few meters ahead of me. I had to hasten my steps to catch up with him. Feeling insecure in this desolate place, I wanted to be as near to him as possible. I reached out my hand to him, hoping that he would grab it with his but he did not. His eyes were fixated on the carriage which was now only inches away from him. Without turning his head in my direction, he crouched down and crawled under the carriage.

“What are you doing?” I asked in bewilderment.
He did not answer me. Like a dog, he started digging.
“Gil, for heaven’s sake can you please tell me what you are looking for?” I shouted, holding my head with both hands.

“Quiet, Brenda,” Gilbert broke his silence. But he did not stop digging, “I am looking for something which is important to you.”
“What is it?” I knelt down beside him. Curiosity got the better of me.
“ You will know it later. I buried it when I was ten,” answered he.
“Ten!? I had not known you yet,” I put my hand to my mouth in disbelief. How did he know that I would be his wife when he was ten? What did he bury in the sand? Was it diamond, gold, or just an ordinary knick-knack? I first met him when I was nineteen in a prom. He was two years older than me. I got married to him at the age of twenty-four.

Gilbert had dug a rather deep hole by now. His face was sweaty and caked with dirt and sand. How silly and childish he looked. I could not help shaking my head. Fortunately we were the only ones in the deserted town.

All of a sudden, Gilbert’s head jerked up and hit the bottom of the carriage with a thud. I gasped and asked if he was all right.

“I am okay, don’t worry,” said he, rubbing his head. “I’ve found it.”
“You’ve found it?”
“Yes, “ with that, he crawled out excitedly on all fours. He was holding something in his right hand. I helped him to get up.

“My, look at you! There is sand all over you. What an over-aged child you are,” I berated him while brushing the sand off his face and body with my handkerchief.

Grinning widely at me, he opened his right hand and revealed a grime-encrusted matchbox. After tapping off the dirt, he put it near my ear and gave it a good shake.

“Guess what is inside the matchbox,” said Gilbert, his face looked sly and naughty.
I pricked my ears to the sound and said, “sounds like a round thing inside. Is it a ring?”
“No,”
“is it a gold nugget?”
“You are wrong again,” he gave my cheek a light tap, as if I were a little child.
“What is it, then?” I stamped my foot impatiently.

He chuckled and pushed the box open with his thumb . I peeped into the box and saw a rusty coin of twenty cents!
“What has the coin got to do with me?” I blurted out incredulously. Gilbert glanced down at me. The mischief on his face was gone. Now he looked serious.

“Brenda, I came to this place with my parents when I was ten. My father did a thing which I have never forgotten.”
“What did he do?”
“ He dug a hole under the carriage and took out a matchbox. There was a twenty-cent coin inside and he put it into my mother’s hand.”
“Why did he do that?”
“ He wanted to show her his steadfast love, which had remained unchanged for twenty years,” answered he, looking at me steadily in the eyes.
"How did your mother feel?"
"She was thrilled."

I drew a long breath and reached out for the coin. He put it gently into my hand. We had been married for twenty years and today was our anniversary. Our teenage daughters and friends were waiting for us at Yellowstone. Our anniversary party would be held there at night.

“You were touched by what you saw,” I murmured, “and you decided to do the same thing.”

He nodded and said, “I put my twenty-cent coin into the box and told my parents that I would dig it out in the twentieth year of my marriage.”

I was so touched that I did not know what to say next.

" It is a miracle that the carriage remains in the same place after all these years. If not, I may have a hard time looking for the coin," he added.

Then, he touched the coin in my hand and said, "I love you, Brenda."

My eyes were brimming with tears. I looked up at him and said, “I love you, Gil. What a beautiful gift it is. I will treasure it forever.”

Gilbert opened his arms and hugged me. We kissed each other for a long time in the sun. It was the happiest and the most memorable moment of our life. We resumed our journey to Yellowstone at two-thirty and reached there in the twilight. Our anniversary party was splendid. We felt so blessed to have so many people celebrate it with us.The next day, we had a great time camping and fishing.

I keep the coin in a small purse. It is more precious than gold to me. Whenever I look at it, I smile.