The Tale of the Lucky Penny.

I?m not skilled enough to fix up old photos, so this faded early image will have to do for my last tale.

In the 1940s and 50s I lived with my sisters in a children?s home in what was then Salisbury, Rhodesia and is now Harare, Zimbabwe. It?s not there any more. Robert Mugabe built his party headquarters on the spot where it used to stand.

There were quite a few children ranging from babes to late teens living there ? some of whom are in this photo. We were well cared for and, in retrospect, had many privileges that children in ?normal? households were denied. The only things I can remember wishing for were a bicycle, a watch like Daisy Jeffrey?s and freedom. I got the freedom when I finished school and started work so I bought the watch. But I never got a bike.

Every Saturday morning, the smallest among us were lined up in front of the Secretary?s office and handed a penny pocket money. We would then run as fast as we could outside the long dining room, around the kitchen, dash past the boys? lavatories and slide across the nursery verandah to line up panting in front of a table outside the Head Matron?s office. On this was displayed a colourful selection of sweets from which we could choose to purchase with our pennies. I always went for two noggerballs (sp?!) and my best friend, Edna, chose sherbet. I?d give her one of my noggers and she?d let me share a suck of her sherbet.

One Saturday, Edna said she wasn?t going to buy any sherbet; she was going to save her penny for good luck. So I shared my noggers with her and hoped to share in her luck. But it was not to be. About a month later, Edna and her four sisters were spirited out of the home to freedom and we never saw them again. There was a rumour that they all went to Australia. That kind of luck we had never dreamed of.

After Edna?s extraordinary good fortune several of us decided we would also save lucky pennies. On hearing this, the wise Head matron, not wanting us be deprived of treats indefinitely and possibly in vain, decided to change the pennies for little coloured wooden discs. So we returned to our Saturday race for sweeties. And I managed to save this lucky penny.

It?s worked. Life is beautiful.

Thanks for reading my tales and saying such nice things about them. You?re great. All of you.