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Author: Jim Vincent Viglione
Title: untitled #3
Type of Work: story
Source: CMv1 #45

© Copyright 2002 Jim Vincent Viglione


It was in grade school.

Every morning we had 'rest period'. This meant laying our heads on our desks, closing our eyes and resting. After rest period the teacher would go up and down the isles and hand out cookies for 5 cents each. I remember the cookie that I would love best. It was the one that was covered in dark chocolate and filled with marshmallow. That chocolate, marshmallow and crumbly cookie would take forever to get off the inside of my cheeks, the roof of my mouth and from the spaces between my teeth. Gee, I would love that kind of cookie best of all. Each day when the teacher came past my desk I would explain that I was full from breakfast and didn't want a cookie.

The truth was, breakfast was my portion of a 20 cent box of vanilla wafers and a cup of coffee. Every morning I shared this same 'breakfast' with my 3 siblings. There was no extra money for such luxuries as marshmallow filled, chocolate covered cookies. So, as cookie time was enjoyed by my fellow classmates, I would stare at my "Weekly Reader".

One day something very mysterious happened after rest period. I lifed my head and found a small green folded piece of plastic on my desk. It was really tightly wrapped in a rubber band. I asked my friends all around me where it came from. No one knew. I slowly unwrapped the rubber band, then unfolded the green plastic. Inside was a dime and a nickel. Again I asked my friends and my teacher. No one knew anything about that green packet. I thought, maybe God sent it. But, why would God send a little boy 15 cents in a green plastic packet? I just couldn't understand.

I didn't know what to do, so I used the dime to buy 2 of the most delicious cookies covered in chocolate and stuffed with marshmallow. I saved the nickel just in case someone claimed ownership of the little green plastic package.

That was at least one day that a little boy in a small town enjoyed cookie time with his classmates and never for a moment missed his "Weekly Reader".