Down the street from my house there was a playground I used to go to every day. There was nothing but a few swings, a slide and a merry go round. The color was chipping away and turning into rust, and still, it was the highlight of my neighborhood. The playground was in front of an abandoned church, so the playground was pretty lonely as well. Usually I was the only one at the playground after school, but every once in a while there would be other kids there too. I loved being there when it was only me. Every day I was always so ecstatic to go play after school. I played happily by myself while my parents sat languidly on the bench.

I remember having a really bad day once. The kids at school bullied me, and usually it wasn’t enough to get to me, but that day it did. I wasn’t even in the mood to play that day, but my mom insisted it would make me feel better. When I got to the park, I found a penny and picked it up. My mom always told me, “when you find a penny pick it up, and for the rest of the day you’ll have good luck.” I was taken over by a profound feeling of joy and realized that the tough act those bullies put on was only superficial.

Just my luck, the bullies were also at the playground that day. They were staring at me as my mom and I got closer to the playground. I could hear them whispering things about me and it made me lose the confidence I had just gained. I told my mom maybe it was better if we came back another day, but my mom insisted we stay. She told me that the best way to stand up for myself was to show them that I wasn’t phased by them. I took a look at my penny, and then a look at my mom, and suddenly I wasn’t scared anymore. With all my courage, I went to the swings like I usually do and I could tell the bullies were bothered by the fact that I wasn’t scared to go near them. As I was swinging, I noticed that some of the bullies started to bully one of their own friends. They left her alone at the park and she kept looking at me. She came up to me and tried to be my friend and was trying to disavow the statements she had said to me at school. Although I felt bad for her, I decided she did not deserve to be my friend after all the pain she caused me. This shiny new penny delivered me from the subjugation of those bullies. It was almost as if the penny was put there just for me because so many people walked past it and didn’t pick it up. I was feeling lucky and brave thanks to my penny. From that day forward, I never let any of the spiteful things that the bullies said to me get in the way of my happiness.