“The Lucky Christmas Penny” by Alan Scofield.

Once upon a time, in a cold and dark December, the moon was sleeping and the earth was dreaming of
Christmas and somewhere, in that busy world, was a small boy looking up at the moon, and though he
lived in a grey little house with a crack down the driveway and a few broken windows, there was as much
hope in this one boy, as there were stars in the night sky.

-Mama – he said – is there a kind of magic in the world that can make an impossible thing come true?

-I don’t know – said his mother – but if there is anyone who can find it, I bet, it will be you.

So, he took his Lucky Penny and planted it in the ground and said:

-My Lucky Penny, grow into a Christmas tree finer than any.

That night he dreamed that he flew among the stars and visited the smiling moon and Christmas
appeared one letter at a time:

“C”-for the colored lights on the tree,

“H”-for the happy times that will be,

“R”-reading stories of faraway kings,

“I”-inside with a teakettle sings,

“S”-for Santa plump and rosy,

“T”-tucked in under covers so cozy.

“M”-for mother, the one we love,

“A”-all the magic that comes from above

And “S”-for sleep and a long winter’s nap.

But the penny in the ground never grew at all, and the boy began to doubt the magic of the impossible
wish, so he worked for a man at the Christmas tree a lot, to earn enough for a Christmas tree, but by
Christmas Eve, every last tree was sold and the boy almost wept:

- I guess all the trees are gone – said the boy. But nearby, on top of the owner’s truck, a fine young tree
was tied. – I saved it for you – the owner smiled.

-How much is it? – said the boy

-For my hard worker, how about one penny?

-But that’s impossible, trees don’t cost… - and saying that, he smiled for the impossible wish of the
penny he planted, had indeed come true.

Once upon a time, in a cold and dark December, the moon was sleeping and the earth was dreaming of
Christmas and a quiet boy, in a grey little house on Christmas Eve night, smiled up at the moon shining
bright as a brand new penny.