Lucky

The other day TWO had a bit of a kerfuffle – with a penny in the car; here’s what happened.

She found it in a parking lot and was overjoyed. She extolled for me her pending luck and recited a soothsayers predictions for joy and happiness…many times.

Then she got quiet, in the backseat, belted in, she studied the coin.
The front,

And the back.

And then she announced proudly that she’d flip it!

Daddy?
Yes?
Daddy?
I said ‘Yes?’
[this double question thing is common these days – just roll with it.]
Uh – I can flip this penny and you have to guess…Heads or Cage!
[without missing a beat this time…]
Cage!

And she flipped – right off her thumb and straight down into the confusticating crack between the seatbelts.

She immediately began crying and told me something in a high whiney voice [half of which I could hear and the other half?…only dogs] about how your luck goes away by double if you LOSE a lucky penny that you’d just found.
I told her that she hadn’t truly lost it but that she only can’t get to it right now.

I’ll see if I can get it when we get home, Ok?

The crying mostly stopped.

[other stuff happened, conversation, blowing of noses etcetera etcetera and…]

When we got home I was preoccupado with other business but TWO, she was focused on one thing only…that penny.
[I wonder if she might ever remain so when brushing her teeth?]

Oh yes, of course, I forgot – let me take a looksie.

She pointed to the spot where it disappeared like it contained a venomous snake and I spied it! I gingerly reached for the shiny edge of that elusive copper…ack!

It fell through.

OHHHHHH DADDEEEEE!

Like it’s my fault?!
Crying again?…naturally it is of course, my fault.

Don’t worry honey! I can still see it, so I’ll get something LONG and sticky on the end to snatch it up, ok?
[she snapped to attention]
Can I do it?!

Of course I had to test the laws of physics first to make sure copper wasn’t magnetic. [drat]

So I grabbed some Gorilla tape [product placement!] and stuck it to the end of my telescoping magnetic reacher and handed it over with some terse instruction.

Poke this down there while I hold the belts out of the way – carefully without touching the sides – and when you get the tape to touch the penny push it down kinda hard to make sure it sticks well and then g.e.n.t.l.y bring it back out without touching the sides of the seat, ok?

I can’t touch it at all?!

No – I mean, it’s not gonna burn you or anything we just don’t want the penny to fall off, OK?
ok.

Suddenly it was an adventure, and she did well, gingerly and precisely as requested and she came up with the pennyyyy!!,
and a piece of fruity wrapper,
and maybe like a shriveled french fry or something.

EEEEEEWWWWWW! This is gross!

Then, before you can say “Heads or Cage”, she’d snatched her penny away from the ‘gross’ bits and quickly stuffed them all BACK IN THE CRACK!

Whew! That was close.