I’m a dollar bill. They call me Billy. This story of mine starts with me not being made yet. You may object to that but hey, it’s my story, right? So anyways, I was made in the Bureau of Engraving, in Washington D.C.. I was printed while all these weird looking things, I heard that they were called people, just watched. Apparently it’s a big thing to watch us getting made. After my buddies and I got off the printer and were cut into individuals, we were sent to various cities. I ended up in Evanston, IL, which is right outside of the Windy City of Chicago. I don’t remember what the name of the store I was sent to was, but the next thing I knew, I was getting put into a dark cash register. I was so tired from the day, so as soon as I closed my eyes, I was fast asleep.

The next morning, I woke to a key turning in a lock, and a bell ringing on the door when someone walked into the store. The person who worked at the store had come to start the day. Most of my buddies around me snored so loudly. Last night, right before I fell asleep, I noticed a pin. It had these weird scribbles on it. When the person put it on, I realized that it was a nametag.

The whole day people came in and out of the store. I saw everything through a little peephole in the cash register. One time, the lady who worked at the store almost handed me to a stranger, but thankfully she had enough change for the man, and didn’t need me. The lady who worked at the store’s name was Sophie. The reason I knew the lady’s name was because I overheard some people taking to her and called her that.

Later, probably late afternoon, Sophie packed up her things, took her nametag off, and headed for the door. I waited for the bell to ring, and the key turning in the lock before I told my friends the plan.

My plan was awesome, at least that’s what I thought. We were going to explore the store. I had already figured out that it was a toy store through my peephole in the cash register. Now you may think that we can’t walk because we’re just pieces of paper, but we have our ways.

We slowly crept out of the safety of our cash register, closed it behind us, and ventured into the vast space of the store. There were thousands of toys. No wonder there are so many noises and kids during the day. Once we were on the floor and about to start exploring, we heard a noise.

The noise turned out to be Sophie. We immediately slid under the counter. She had forgotten her phone. She came in, took it, and went back out. She had forgotten to lock the door.

We continued to explore. There were crafts, games, and tons of toys. Once, during our exploration, I found a little toy elephant. I decided not to tell anyone about her. Not for any specific reason, I just knew we would be friends because she looked lonely until I saw her. She immediately came out of her dusty spot on the bottom of a shelf to talk to me. “Hi, my name is Fi-Fi, what is yours?” She asked shyly.
“My name is Billy,” I said soothingly, not wanting to scare her off. I found out that she had been at this toy store for a long time. The store was called Toys Et Cetera. I promised her I would visit her every night. I felt bad for her because she hadn’t been played with for a long time.

The next day went by the same as yesterday. I noticed that Fi-Fi was wearing a faded yellow t-shirt with a big blue pocket taking up most of the space on the front of the shirt. I looked away from Fi-Fi to see who had just walked through the door, and when I turned back towards her, she was being played with.

I suddenly felt light headed. Then, to top that off, the little girl who was playing with Fi-Fi said to her mom “Mommy, we should get this for her. Can we get it?” “It” has a name, I thought. My head was spinning. I should have felt happy for Fi-Fi because she was getting played with and bought, but I didn’t. I didn’t want to lose a friend that I had just met, and seemed really nice. How do I get that kid not to want Fi-Fi? I thought, pacing, or as well as a dollar bill can pace. Then it hit me. Instead of having Fi-Fi stay here with me, I could go with her! Then the kid, Fi-Fi, and I would all be happy.
I looked at Fi-Fi, and tried to figure out how I could stay with her after she left the store. After all, she was the best kind of friend that you could wish for. As I was looking at her, the emotions on her face caught my eye. The emotions were a mixture of happiness and sadness. After I thought for about a minute, I surprised myself by saying “I got it!” just a bit too loudly.

“Got what?” one of my friends, Aiden, asked.

“Um, nothing,” I said to him. I would wait until Sophie opened the cash register, and I would make sure she used me as change. I would just have to figure out how not to get put into the mom’s wallet. It wasn’t the best of plans, but it would have to work.

As Fi-Fi was being rung up, the mom said “I’d like to have the toy gift wrapped.” Sophie went over to the wrapping papers, the mom followed, with the little girl hanging onto her arm. I saw my chance. I slowly and quietly eased open the cash register, and then closed it behind me. I folded rolled myself up, which barely hurt, and slid into the pocket of Fi-Fi’s shirt just in time. Yes! I thought, my lucky day. I could tell that Fi-Fi was happy because she let out a small, contented sigh. I couldn’t believe that I had pulled off what I had just done. Fi-Fi and I, friend and friend, would be together forever. It was definitely my lucky day.