A to Z: P - Penny & Panel

My A to Z Challenge: Flash fiction written using two words and a photo for inspiration. How did I chose the words? First I brought up a noun list for each letter, then averted my eyes, scrolled the mouse down, stopped and double-clicked. That was the word! The second word was chosen the same way but from a dictionary list of words.
NOTE: Photos are from free to use photo sites such as Pixabay.com and Morguefile.com. No attribution necessary.

He stooped and picked up the penny in the parking lot. Most folks would have just left it, but not him. He always picked them up and took them home. He'd lost his wife over twenty years ago, the result of a freak accident. She'd only been twenty-three. A couple of months later he was feeling low and he found a poem that helped him cope.

Ever since then he refused to pass by a penny. He'd picked them up in buses, parking lots, grocery stores. He'd found them in the dirt at the beach, in shopping malls and, of course, in washing machines.

He'd always rub it with his weathered bandana, kiss it lightly and say "Here's to you, my angel. I'm always I'm thinking of you, too." Then he'd put it in his opposite pocket, the one that didn't hold his wallet and keys. When he got home, he'd put it away and smile.

OBITUARY:
Ralph E. Thompson, age 89, died of old age at home on Thursday, January 13, 2018. A lifelong resident of Duxbridge, he lived simply and worked hard.

Ralph was preceded in death by his wife, Eleanor. He has no living survivors.

There will be no services.

One month after Ralph died, the demolition crew arrived to tear down his house. He had donated his property to the town for a park with the condition that it be named Eleanor's Angel Penny Park. The crew started inside, salvaging what materials they could for their local Habitat for Humanity ReStore. The paneling in the living room revealed quite a surprise. Hundreds of thousands of pennies...

Stay Calm and Read Flash Fiction!

  

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