A $5 bill landed on my clog

The story

I was 11 years old and we were very poor. My mom had just told us that things were going to be even tighter because they were cutting her hours at work to keep everyone's job. I had the form in my pocket for a McDonald's treat day, but I didn't even say anything. I was already scared to ask, because we never really had money for extras.

Instead, I went to my bed, told my sister, and she and I decided that maybe I would pretend to be sick during that class period to get to go to the nurse's office and no one would know that we didn't have the money.

My mom called me to the living room and told me that I needed to go to the store and get the Sunday paper from the day before so she could look for a part time job or a different job. She gave me a dollar and sent me on my way, admonishing me to hurry home.

I got the paper, and put it in a plastic bag, hurrying so I didn't get into trouble.

The next day was the deadline for the McDonald's order in my classroom. The max order allowed was $5.00. (A long time ago, early 80s)

I was walking across a empty field with the newspaper on that cold fall day, pulling my little corduroy blazer closer to me because the wind was whipping up. I had on a pair of Abba clogs that were my birthday present that year.

I started thinking about "Wouldn't it be funny if a five dollar bill flew across the field to me?" Then I started thinking about the $5.00 bill landing on top of my clog. Not 3 steps later, a $5.00 bill flew past, and I ran towards it. The wind grabbed it again and it landed on top of my clog. I snatched it up, put it in my pocket and ran the rest of the way home.

The next day at school, I was able to complete an order with the rest of the class. It was so cool!