Heads up, good luck!

"I feel like I just left her on the side of the road," I say to the doctor as I collect my coat and head towards the exit.  He reaches out one arm and places his hand on my shoulder "there was nothing more you could do" he says with rehearsed rhetoric.

I want to cry, but I can't.  I can't cry for someone I barely knew.

A nurse smiles at me as I walk down the long corridor through another waiting room, and then eventually; out onto the street.

I walk along, half zombie-like until I see a familiar face standing in the middle of the sidewalk.

I stop in front of him, but he doesn't see me.  A moment later I notice what he's staring at:

a shiny penny on the ground.

Curiosity gets the best of me, and so I stand there waiting to see what he'll do.

A moment later he looks up at me and starts to walk away.

"Hey!" I yell after him, "What about your penny?"

Without looking back he simply says, "Head's up good luck," and continues walking until he disappears around a corner.

Part of me wonders if he'll notice that the twins are gone from the park -- but before I'm able to give it any more thought I make my way towards the penny; which is face down on the sidewalk in front of me.

I stand there for a moment, staring at the penny.  It's a shiny penny -- most likely minted this year.  Every now and then it glints at me in an ever-so-taunting manner.

Such a shame that he didn't want it...

I stare at the penny for another second or two before the heat of the day begins to get to me, and so, without thinking I reach down and turn the penny over.

"Heads up, good luck!" I say to myself with conviction.  

Somehow flipping the penny has made me feel as if I've accomplished something -- a small comfort for having been completely useless to the twins.  I let that thought linger for a few seconds before it evaporates into the heat of the day.  And as I fix my gaze on the street ahead of me, I hope, as I walk along, that I've managed to extend a ripple of kindness to someone somewhere who needs it. 

Someone who also believes in the magic of finding a penny; and the raw simplicity of good fortune to those who are willing to seek it.