Jordon and the Copper Penny

Chapter 1: Jordon Takes the Plunge

Such a beautiful day for fishing!

The lapping, bluish-green, ocean water glistened happily beneath the early morning sun. A warm, gentle breeze tousled Jordon’s light blond hair as he stood patiently on the beach. A wonderful day for fishing, Jordon thought, as his squinting blue eyes kept gazing at the ocean water tide. Just a beautiful day!

Jordon yanked in the fishing line once again to see if anything had caught itself on the hook. The worm was still squirming nervously on the end of the line, but nothing else was there. He tossed the bait out one more time into the water.

Why aren’t the fish biting today? Jordon wanted to know. Such a wonderful day, they must be in there somewhere… He stood motionless on the sand as the salt-water ocean sucked in another receding wave. They must be in there somewhere… how he wished he could catch a fish…

Suddenly the line was yanked. The fishing pole sprang right out of Jordon’s lazy grasp and shot straight for the deeper green water. The poor boy was dazed momentarily as the sudden yanking knocked him down in the wet sand, but then he jumped up in an instant and snapped back the rod just seconds before losing it all to the sea.

A huge fish – this one was! Jordon realized. Not just a little one, but a giant fish! Maybe a whale, or a shark, something gigantic!

Jordon pulled in the line quickly. He pulled and tugged and yanked. He could not lose this one, not this big of a fish.

Oh, what a fighter this fish is! Jordon said to himself. The small boy used all of his strength but still he could not bring the huge fish in. It seemed like hours of pulling and tugging but little Jordon kept yanking in the line.

Finally, the fishing line snapped. Jordon fell backwards and tumbled headfirst into a pile of sand. The big fish was gone! Covered with beach dust and sand, Jordon pulled in the rest of the white string. It must have been such a huge fish, and now it was gone!

Jordon kicked the sand. Disappointed, he gazed out at the water. I wish I could catch a fish! he cried out loud. A big, fat beautiful fish! The small boy sat on the beach in disgust.

Just then, a head popped out of the water. It was the head of a little man, wearing a shiny green cap, and he had a smooth white beard, both dripping wet.

“Hey!” the head cried, “Hey you!”

When Jordon looked up, he could not believe his eyes. A little man had appeared right in the middle of the ocean!

“What’s the big idea?” the little man screeched, with a little man’s squeaky voice.

Jordon searched all around the quiet beach.

“Do you mean me?” Jordon murmured, with a little boy’s whispery voice. He was very surprised to see this little man’s head and torso emerging from the water.

“Yeah you,” snapped the little, old man, “Just who do you think you are?”

“Why… my name is Jordon…” the little boy said, his voice quivering and his cheeks now colored ripe peach from the sun.

“No, no, I don’t care what your name is,” cried the old man, “Is this yours?” The bearded man held up what was left of Jordon’s fishing line, which had only moments before been snagged by a gigantic ocean fish. Or so he thought…

“Of course that is mine,” Jordon replied, not knowing what else to say.

The man had totally emerged out of the water by now and he was dripping wet from head to toe. Jordon could see he was very short, and he was dressed entirely in green.

“Just what are you trying to do anyway?” the little green man squawked, “Drown our poor defenseless worms?”

Jordon was stunned.

“Well…, I…, I… was only fishing…” he suddenly confessed, his boyish blue eyes glued to the sand.

“Fishing?” questioned the old man.

“Sure,” Jordon answered, “Fishing and wishing. Wishing I could catch a giant fish…”

“Do you know where that little worm is now?” the old man demanded, his two specks of emerald-colored eyes bulging from his forehead.

Jordon shook his head ‘no’, for indeed he had no idea where that little worm was now.

“Well, I’ll tell you where that poor little worm is now my dear, young fisherman friend,” the green man barked sourly. “We have just sent him to the Emergency Care Unit. Luckily, we may be able to save him…”

“T-T-T-o the ‘m-m-m-ergency care unit,” Jordon stated nervously.

“YES!” the old man howled, “To the Emer-gen-cy Care Unit… just what are you trying to do?” His tiny frame stood silent for a moment before he continued to address the boy, his beady, green eyes still bulging from their sockets.

“Wishing and fishing – that’s nonsense…” the man finally proclaimed.

“I never catch anything,” Jordon uttered, trying to explain, “I just wish I could catch a fish, that’s all…”

“That’s all?” the green man snapped. He was completely dry now, his green, satin suit gleaming brightly in the sun, and his long, white beard fluttering in the breeze as he began pacing back and forth in the sand. “And what about the worms, did you ever think about the worms?” The old man uttered this as if there were a angry jury sitting there before them ready to convict the boy.

“I din’t mean to hurt the werms,” Jordon mumbled mournfully.

“Hurt them!” the man shrilled, jumping up and down, “You darn near drowned one of them!”

“I’m ter’bly sorry…,” Jordon pleaded, “I’ll never do it again…”

The green man seemed calmer now. “I certainly hope not,” he exclaimed loudly. He had ceased his pacing now as he stepped closer to Jordon.  Above him were several curious sea gulls, which Jordon had not noticed until now, who were hovering in mid-air apparently to witness the proceedings.

“Allow me to introduce myself,” the little man said stretching out his small green arm toward Jordon, not as loudly now, “My name is Argyle…”

Standing up to shake the man’s hand, Jordon suddenly realized that he over-towered him by more than several head lengths. “My name is Jordon,” the boy replied, as he was beginning to wonder where this little green man had come from.

“Well…, nice to meet your acquaintance Jordon,” the man responded cordially.

“Nice meeting you,” Jordon responded, since that was how his mother told him he should greet people. They were both quiet for a second before the old man named Argyle spoke again.

“So, you were wishing and fishing…,” Argyle said, glancing at Jordon’s small tackle box, “You certainly don’t have the proper equipment here for wishing…”

“Oh, that’s not for wishing,” Jordon answered him, “That’s all for fishing… I do all of my wishing in my head…”

“In your head?” Argyle snapped back, “You do all of your fishing in your head?” He was laughing now, so much so that he was practically rolling in the sand.

“What’s a matter with that?” Jordon asked innocently.

Still giggling, the little man managed to reply, “But what is it that you wish for…?”

“Why to catch the biggest, fattest, most tumultuous fish that you have ever seen in your life… maybe a shark, or a whale, or a …”

By now the little green man seemed to be laughing twice as hard. He was rolling gleefully in the sand with his tiny, green boots pointing upward toward the sky, and with his bearded cheeks shining pink with laughter. Above him a flock of sea gulls seemed to be laughing too, as they hovered briefly in mid-air before coasting outward toward the sea.

“But what’s a matter with that?” Jordon asked, boyishly. This sure was a strange, little, green man, he thought.

“Because, my dear Jordon, you can’t wish to catch a fish.”

The gulls were gone now, but the old man’s smile was as broad as ever.

“Why?” Jordon wanted to know.

“Because, my young friend, that is not really a wish.” The old man seemed to be snickering as he answered him. “To catch a fish, who ever heard of such a thing?”

“Not a wish…,” Jordon mumbled, “Why?”

“BECAUSE…” the old man shrilled, “You only get one wish, and that is not your single, solitary wish, that’s why…”

Jordon was confused. “Only one wish?” he said, repeating the old man.

“Only one wish,” the man replied, “And you, my dear boy, do not know how to wish.”

“I don’t…,” Jordon responded., “but why?’

“BECAUSE YOU SIMPLY DON’T!” old Argyle cried, “And I’ll prove it to you… here and now…”

Then, as if by magic, the man produced a penny, what appeared to be a single copper penny, and he was waving it in the air right under Jordon’s nose.

There was a pause then as Jordon watched the old man as he kept waving the copper penny in the air. “If you had only one wish, in the entire world,” the old man asked him, “just what would it be you would wish for?”

Jordon thought about it. Certainly, with only one wish, he would not waste it on catching a fish. He thought deeper. Finally, he replied, “I would wish…, I would wish…, I would wish that I could have all of the money in the world that I could take home with me so that my family could be rich like other rich people…”

“I told you!” giggled Argyle, with tiny specks of suppressed laughter in his eyes, “You just don’t know how to wish.”

“But what is wrong with that wish?” Jordon demanded.

“Well,” the old man told him, “Any normal person who is given only one wish would naturally wish for more wishes.”

“But if I had all of the money I needed to make my family rich I wouldn’t need any more wishes,” Jordon explained, “I would be able to help my father with his money problems and we would be happy…”

Jordon wanted to tell the man about his father – Georges Chaleur – and his failing bicycle rental business and how his family needed money to survive, since that is why he had run away from home to become a fisherman, but all he gave him was his simple, boyish answer. And upon hearing it, the old man’s face lit up.

“Do you really think so?” the old man asked still waving the copper coin in Jordon’s face, “Do you really think that is what would make you happy?”

“Sure,” Jordon replied, “I would be able to help the people who love me…”

“Well then,” Argyle said in response, “Suppose I grant you that wish. Suppose I make it so you can become wealthy enough to be rich… would you like that?””

“Would I?” Jordon cried. “Why sure. Can you do that? Can you? How? Tell me, please!” Jordon dropped to his knees and seemed to be pleading with him. Even then, he was still taller than the little man. “Please could you?” Jordon continued.

The old man seemed to be thinking it over. Then, in one short instant, he managed to flip the coin that he was holding so that it flew through the air so Jordon could catch it. “Go ahead my young friend,” Argyle told him, “Go ahead and make your wish…”

Jordon caught the coin in mid-air and clutched it in his right hand as he could see the little man starting to step back toward the ocean. Quietly Jordon made his wish as he continued to watch as the little man kept getting closer to the sea.

Around them, the boy now noticed, the sun was still shining brightly, the sky was silky blue, and the sea breeze was cool and inviting. In the distance, he could see the dark figures of several sea gulls as they glided freely through the air above the ocean tide. It was still a beautiful day.

The little man named Argyle, who was half-way in the water now, looked back at Jordon for one long instant. “Let’s go!” he cried. Then, without hesitation, he plunged headfirst into the ocean surf and seemed to disappear.

Not knowing what else to do, and without much hesitation himself, Jordon held onto the coin that the little man had given him, and he plunged right in after him.