“Heads or tails?” says the boy proudly holding a shiny gold coin up in the air and a toy under each arm. His mom looks down with a smile and says, “Today you can get both things sweetie.
” However, at the age of six Ryan already knew and respected the limits given to him and responded
“But mom, you said that I could only get a few things and I already got cereal, ice cream, that bouncy ball, fruit snacks, and a coloring pad.
” Most people would have been surprised by a six year old acting twice his age but not her, she knew that he was just like his grandpa and that the coin only made them more alike.
Ryan was a mere five years old when his Grandfather gave him the coin, it was a family air loom and had been in the family since the assassination of the forty-fourth president of the United states. It was the determining factor of all major decisions in the family. In-fact Ryan wouldn’t have even existed if it wasn’t for that faithly coin. The day his parents met his dad flipped the coin to see if he should ask his mother out on a date. He wanted to. It was love at first sight and there was no doubt about that, but he was nervous that she would say no. So he told himself, “Heads, I run over and ask her. Tails, it isn’t meant to be.” It was heads of course and the rest is history.
Grandpa told Ryan this story along with many others about the coin as Ryan sat there amazed with his eyes as big as saucers and mouth wide open. When Grandpa felt that the stories had reached a climax he handed Ryan the coin and everything became more serious. He said “I want you to have this but there is a catch.” Ryan’s eyes narrowed, his mouth snapped shut, and he sat up as straight as a pin. You could almost see his ears perking up like a dog eager to listen. “This is a big responsibility for such little boy, but I know you can handle it. I was a little older than you when I got it and I didn’t understand at first but as time went by it all became clear. I don’t expect you to realize how important this coin is yet, but I don’t have much time left in this world and it is important that you carry on its legacy. Anytime that you come to a fork in the road or a tough decision all you have to do is flip it, heads is yes and tails is no.” He said as Ryan fumbled the coin in his hands looking at the pictures on each side. “It has never been wrong and it never will be, because everything happens for a reason. Just know that once the coin is flipped you can’t change it, what is done becomes fate.” Ryan’s heart began to beat fast like it did when he thought about monsters under his bed and the coin started to sound like something scary too. “This coin knows what is best for you but no one else. As long as you always keep it on you then you will have the perfect life. As long as you keep the coin I am always with you and I will always keep you safe.” Ryan crawled onto his grandpa’s lap and looked in his eyes confused. “I know that this is a lot for you to take in right now but I wish that someone would have told me about these things before I took the coin. Please learn from my mistakes and follow everything I told you. If you do then you will be fine. I love you Ryan I know that you won’t let me down.”
That was the last day that Ryan saw his grandpa, and a day that he would never forget. He passed away a few weeks later in a bizarre death. The medics said that he died from old age however, he was only seventy-eight and people lived to nearly one hundred and fifty with the advanced technology that had been created over the years. The death took a toll on the whole family however, Ryan took it the hardest. His role model had been taken away from him before he could even say good-bye. He felt like he had so much left to learn from him and so many questions left about the coin.
He held the coin in his closed fist and cried. It was the only thing that he had left of the person he loved and cared about the most and the speech he had given him only a few weeks later repeated in his head like a broken record as he tried to make sense of it. Ryan had never used the coin before. He was very cautious and didn’t like doing things he was unsure of, but now he had no one to ask any questions or sort out any concerns. So, he asked the coin. He balanced it on his thumb and questioned “Does Grandpa know I miss him?” The coin flew through the air at the flick of his finger and landed heads up, that meant yes. It seemed right but he was still unsure, so Ryan asked another question. “Is he ever coming back?” He knew the answer was no, but he wanted to test the coin to make sure it worked. This time the coin hit the ground and spun around like a tornado before finally landing with tails facing up. This was the correct answer but somehow it made Ryan’s heart sink. It was almost like he wanted the coin to be wrong so he could believe that it was magic and could bring his grandpa back. Ryan put the coin in his pocket, it had earned his trust, but he didn’t have anymore questions for now.
However, as the days passed Ryan started to use the coin more and more. He used it for everything, picking out his clothes, answering simple questions and even mediating fights with his siblings. It always seemed to work in his favor and the sorrow in his heart began to disappear. There was not a question in his mind that this coin wouldn’t lead him down the road to perfection, and he was right.
Ryan became one of the most successful businessmen known in the stock market. He used the coin everyday; he used it for every stock he looked at. If it said yes he invested and if it said no he didn’t. His secret to success was that simple. The coin had never failed him. Every time that he had invested it was a wise decision. He was filthy rich had the perfect life and his coin was his most prized possession.
However, one day a day like all the others. He looked at the stocks flipped his coin and it told him to invest in a large company that was falling apart. Any normal person would see this as a stupid and risky decision but he put his trust in the coin and for the first time it failed him. He lost millions of dollars and he was stunned. He went mad; he threw the coin in a dresser drawer and started coming to work with out it. He lost one dollar after the next until, his life had done a complete one-eighty and he was left with virtually nothing. His wife left him because it turned out what she really loved was his money. She got full custody of their kids because she claimed that he was insane and unsafe to be around. And since he didn’t have any money to pay for the pre-nup she got most everything in the house as well.
Ryan lay on a box spring mattress in the middle of a bare room staring at the only possession he truly owned, the coin his grandfather gave him, and the sorrow began to fill his heart again. His perfect life had crumbled before his eyes but how could this happen? This question launched a million others. If the coin knows what is best then why did this happen? How could the coin be wrong? And then Ryan began to think about the last words he and his Grandfather had. This only brought more questions. How did Grandpa know his time left in this world was short? Why did he die so suddenly? What mistakes did he make? How would he be let down? How did he really die? Ryan knew that all of this had to be connected to the coin and that he had to figure out how in order to be happy again. So he decided to do what he always did when it came to answering tough questions, flip the coin.
He flicked the coin into the air and asked “Is it your fault that my grandfather is dead?” and as he heard the coin hit the ground there was only one question on his mind… Heads or tails?
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