Unlucky Charm

Mike, Micky, Peter and Davy were having a relaxing day playing in the sandy beach and snoozing on blankets. It was nice sunny weather and they felt they deserved the rest after two weeks of solid work at various gigs around town. They were happy, content and had even been able to pay rent early for a change which made the current relaxation that much more rewarding.

Mike lay on his back on his stripey blanket with his book open but covering his face as he snoozed away the afternoon. Micky and Peter were at work on an extremely elaborate sand castle not far away and Davy sat close to the waters edge, pushing his toes into the sand and watching the water come in and go out. He felt sleepy and considered taking a nap like Mike was and was just deciding to do just that when his right toe touched something cold and hard in the sand. Davy pulled his foot out of the sand and used his hands to dig down to see what he'd touched. As he scraped sand away, he saw a shiny gold object that looked like a flat coin but with rough edges.

"I wonder….", he muttered as he lifted the strange object from the sand and brushed it clean on his t-shirt. The sun hit its golden surface and it sparkled beautifully. "Wow" murmured Davy and slipped the treasure into his pocket. Wondering if there might be more mysterious golden coins beneath the sand, Davy leaned forward to scoop some sand away from the little hole he'd found the coin in. Something sharp got him in the index finger and made him scramble backwards, clutching his hurting finger. "Ow!" he yelped and looked at his finger to see what had happened.

Expecting to see a deep cut, Davy gasped and his heart beat faster as he looked in horror at his finger which showed no sign of a cut but instead was very definitely dislocated in all its joints. Then the pain hit him and he cried out and tears stung his eyes. "Oh it hurts!" he moaned and tucked himself into a ball, gripping his injured hand to his chest and taking deep breaths.

By this point, Mike was sitting up looking towards Davy with concern. He called out,"Davy? You okay?"

Micky and Peter looked towards Davy too and followed when Mike went to their young friend who still had himself tucked tightly in a ball, moaning and clutching his hand.

Mike kneeled down in front of Davy and reached for Davy's hand. "What did you do, kiddo?" asked Mike as Davy let Mike gently turn his injured hand over to look at it.

Mike whistled at what he saw and Peter behind him sat down hard on the sand. Micky sat down next to Davy and put his arm around his friend. "Hey Davy?", prompted Mike ducking his head down to try to peer into Davy's face. "I've set dislocated fingers before many times. Do you want me to try to fix your finger?" asked Mike and saw his young friend inhale sharply but nod. Davy looked up at Mike and his friends and tried to compose himself. "I was digging in that hole and I thought I cut my finger but but then….", he trailed off and looked at his dislocated finger and then back at Mike. "Will it hurt?" he whispered to Mike.

"Yes", admitted Mike and looked over to Micky and Peter who were sitting either side of Davy. "Hold him still for me". Micky wrapped his arms around Davy and pinned the kids arms down while Peter reached over and held the injured hand as still as possible. Davy made eye contact with Mike and started to breath faster. Mike smiled quickly and then yanked hard on Davy's dislocated finger, quickly aligning the bones all together.

Davy swore profusely and struggled to get away from Mike, Micky and Peter but it was over quickly and soon he sagged to lean heavily against Micky and tried not to cry in front of his friends. His chin wobbled and he ducked his head so Mike couldn't see his face. He looked down at his finger which was swelling up like a balloon but at least wasn't all crooked. "Thanks", he whispered to Mike and kept his head down.

"Sorry kiddo", said Mike, "I know it hurts. Come on, probably good idea to get back so we can get you some pain killers". With that said, Mike reached down and lifted Davy to his feet, putting his arm around the kids shoulders and aiming them for home. Peter and Micky scrambled to collect their towels and blankets and followed.

"How you doing, Davy?" asked Peter as they walked up the steps to their apartment. Davy smiled faintly and shrugged. "Sore." he replied and followed Mike into their pad. He went to sit at the kitchen table and rested his injured hand and looked at the swelling.

Micky joined him and patted his shoulder. "How did you dislocate all the joints by digging in a hole?" he asked.

Davy looked down at his injured finger and shrugged again. "I don't know."

Mike came back from the bathroom with a first aid kit and carefully bandaged his young friend's finger up and instructed him firmly to keep it still. "For how long?" asked Davy as he watched Mike bandage his finger using gauze and a popsicle stick. "Few weeks maybe", replied Mike as he finished and squeezed Davy's shoulder. "No more digging in holes for you, kid!" exclaimed Mike and then went about looking around for something to eat.

That night, lying on his back in bed, Davy tried to remember what had caused his finger to become dislocated in all its joints by simply putting his hand in a pre-dug hole in the sand. He thought about the nice shiny coin he had found and sitting up he remembered it was in his shorts pocket which was on the chair next to his bed. He looked around the darkened room at the sleeping forms of his friends and then back at the chair a few feet away from him with his shorts lying there. He needed to look at that coin more closely. Perhaps it was connected to his finger getting injured. Sliding out of bed and careful not to jostle his bandaged hand, Davy padded over to the chair. Reaching inside the pocket he found the shiny coin and pulled it out to look at it. In the moonlight streaming in through the partially closed curtains, he could see how shiny it was and thought perhaps it was really old and perhaps really valuable. There were strange markings around the edge of the coin but it didn't look like a language Davy had ever seen before.

"Strange but so beautiful", whispered Davy as he turned back to his bed and slipped the coin into his pajama pocket. He slipped under the covers and drifted off to sleep.

Davy was dreaming and somehow he knew this but he also felt like it was so real and he shuddered in the dream as he realized in the dream that he was an old man because when he looked at his hands, they were wrinkled and old. He was in a huge city that was burning and the tall towers around him had ash and debris falling from them. He dodged a large piece of twisted concrete and metal that dented the earth where he had just stood. Looking up he saw that the sky was red and filled with what seemed like miles and miles of dark acrid smoke. He began to cough and a sense of panic and dread crept over him as he looked all around but only saw rubble and debris littering the landscape. There were no birds or animals and there was no sign of another human. He saw the shell of what looked like a car that had been burned out a long time ago because it's paint flaked away to dust when he touched the surface. The sensation that he was the last person on earth overwhelmed him and he began calling out in panic for his friends but in the burning landscape his voice sounded thin and weak and he was so frightened and so very alone.

Mike was woken from deep sleep by the sound of gasping and whimpering. He sat up in bed and looked over to Davy who was thrashing around in his bed, calling out faintly the names of his friends. Mike was on his feet and across the room immediately and leaning over the bed he gripped his young friend by the shoulders and shook him awake. "Wake up! Davy you're having a nightmare! Wake up kid!", one more good shake and Davy opened his eyes wide, saw Mike leaning over him and launched himself at his tall friend.

Mike staggered a little as Davy nearly squeezed the life out of him and patted the kid awkwardly on the shoulder. Gripping Davy's good hand and gently releasing the death grip he had helped a lot for Mike in terms of breathing again. "What's going on, Davy? You're scared out of your mind!"

Davy released his tall friend and sat back, rubbing his face with his good hand and trying to catch his breath. "It was horrible, Mike. I was the only person left on earth and it was burning all around me. I was all alone. God it was horrible." Davy took a few shuddering breaths and gratefully accepted Mike's arm around his shoulders.

"Davy, it was just a dream. Can you go back to sleep now?", Mike asked as he looked down at his friend who seemed to be gaining back some sense of reality. Davy nodded and scooted back under the covers and Mike returned to his own bed. He slid back under his own covers and looked across the darkened room at his young friend. Watching silently, Mike saw Davy's breathing even out and then sleep came and the kid stayed sleeping with no sign of the nightmare returning. Micky and Peter had slept through the entire thing!

The following day was relatively uneventful, much to the relief of Davy who had woken with the memory of the nightmare and partial embarrassment that he woke Mike because of it. But luckily Mike didn't bring it up so Davy went through the day relatively recovered from his injury and nightmare. The four friends decided to go out to eat that evening as they had enough money from their previous gigs and felt the need to do something fun after the drama of the day before. Davy had spilled orange juice on his pants leg so he quickly went upstairs to change into a clean pair before joining his friends downstairs. He grabbed the jeans he'd left on his bed and pulled them on and flung his stained pants in the hamper by the bed. His pajama bottoms fell off the bed and the shiny gold coin rolled across the floor. Davy snatched it up before it could roll under the bed and remembered that he'd like to show his shiny gold coin to his friends so he slipped it into his pocket and headed out of the room.

Davy took two steps down the spiral stairs and then his legs got suddenly tangled and for a horrifying split second he was falling down. It happened fast and after hitting nearly every step on the way down, Davy landed in a heap at the bottom of the stairs, the wind knock out of him.