Preface
Christopher Koch once wrote: “It has long been accepted as reasonable that poets should revise their early verse. A number of nineteenth-century novelists did the same; but this practice is now the exception, among prose writers.”
It is a very desirable one to me.
One of my short stories, ‘Loose Change’, was published on the Tasmanian Times website in April 2020. With the help of a few editors (to whom I am extremely grateful), I have recently revised it.
The updated version is below.
The alterations are not fundamental, but they are extensive.
I hope you enjoy reading it more than the original version.
Callum J. Jones
Hobart, 2021
‘Loose Change’
“The universe is always speaking to us… sending us little messages, causing coincidences and serendipities, reminding us to stop, to look around, to believe in something else, something more.” – Nancy Thayer.
Megan walks into her room, eating a banana. She is tall and slender, with long espresso-coloured hair that reaches her waist.
She’s supposed to be practising for her music exam, but can’t bring herself to do so. All she wants to do is go out and enjoy the warm and sunny weather. But she can’t think of what she could do. Go for a walk, maybe? Lie on the grass in the backyard and soak up the sun?
She realises that she hasn’t been to the Salamanca Market in ages, so she decides to go and browse the stalls.
Megan has a coin jar in her room that’s full of loose change. On top of the pile is a two-dollar coin with a unique design on its tails side. Seagulls fly around a sun at the coin’s centre. At the bottom, in plain, bold lettering, are the words Two Dollars.
Reaching into the coin jar, Megan pulls out a handful of coins, including the Two-Dollar Coin. She pockets them as leaves the house.
*
Megan soon arrives at Salamanca Market, which is bustling with people. Vendors are selling food, clothes, hand-crafted items, second-hand books, and a variety of other things. She walks through the crowd and smiles, loving it all: the buzz of activity; the colours; the atmosphere.
She stops to listen to a busker who’s playing a perfect, mesmerising acoustic guitar rendition of Can You Feel The Love Tonight. He looks around her age, and has a mop of black hair with a thick, ginger-tinted beard. Printed on his T-shirt is his name: JAMES TUCKER. Underneath is an image of a silhouette of a person playing a guitar.
He must have Irish blood in him, Megan thinks.
His guitar case is open in front of him for people to toss money into. A large number of coins and banknotes are already in it.
Megan reaches into her pocket, pulls out the Two-Dollar Coin, and tosses it into the case.
“Thanks very much!” the busker beams.
She smiles back before moving on.
*
Twenty minutes later, James finishes busking.
His uncle taught him to play the guitar when he was a kid, and he’s kept at it ever since. He’s never earned a fortune from busking, but every dollar he receives goes towards groceries and whatever else his family needs. They’re living off one just income at the moment because his dad is dying of lung cancer and is permanently confined to the house.
James gathers up the coins and banknotes in his guitar case and starts putting them in a small plastic bag. He’s about to place the Two-Dollar Coin into the bag when he notices its unique design, which he hasn’t seen before. Intrigued, he examines it.
Pocketing the coin, he packs up and starts walking through the market. He’s eaten nothing since breakfast, so he decides to buy some lunch.
James approaches a stall selling German sausages. They’re being cooked with sliced onions on a barbecue behind the stall counter. He’s about to step forward to buy himself one when a man approaches him. He’s wearing a dark-blue Guatemalan shirt, black cotton cargo pants, and dark-brown water buffalo sandals.
“Excuse me,” he says, pulling his shoulder-length blonde hair out of his eyes. “Can I ask a huge favour?”
“Sure.”
“My name’s Dylan, and I’m going to propose to my partner tonight.”
That explains why he’s so nervous, James thinks.
“Congratulations!” he says, beaming.
“Thanks,” Dylan says, smiling quickly. “Thing is, I’ve got a problem. I’ve got the ring, but I also want to buy a rose I’ve just seen at a flower stall and I’m a couple of bucks short. Any chance you’ve got some spare change?”
“Yeah, turns out I’ve got two dollars exactly.”
James fishes the Two-Dollar Coin out of his pocket and holds it out to the man, who accepts it gratefully.
“Thanks, man,” Dylan says, accepting the coin. “I owe you one.”
“Don’t mention it. I hope she says yes.”
“Thanks.”
With that, Dylan turns and walks away.
James steps up to the sausage stall to buy his lunch.
*
Dylan had met Russell in college. They’d been in the same homegroup in Year 11, and quickly became close friends. Romantic feelings followed shortly afterward. They’ve been together ever since.
He’s wanted to propose to Russell for ages, but it never seemed to be the right time. But it feels different now. Society is more accepting of same-sex couples these days.
Dylan also had a more pressing reason to propose. They’d recently made a new friend named was Mark, who’s gay as well. He’s really flirtatious with Russell. Russell didn’t flirt back at first, but now he is.
I can’t lose him, Dylan thinks. I have to propose.
He approaches the flower stall. It has a lot of roses to choose from. There’re all different colours, but Dylan goes straight to the one he saw earlier: a beautiful red one. He grabs it and turns to the florist, a young woman with long hair that’s dyed blue. The badge pinned to her bright yellow sweater bears the name AMBER.
“Just this, please,” he says, handing it to her.
“Sure thing,” Amber replies. “Eight dollars, please.”
James hands her a five-dollar note, a one-dollar coin, and the Two-Dollar Coin.
As Amber wraps plastic and paper around the stem, she asks, “Do you want a ribbon with it?”
“Yes please.”
“What colour would you like?”
“Uh, red, please.”
Amber finishes wrapping the stem and starts tying a red ribbon around it.
“So, I’m guessing that you’re having a romantic dinner tonight?” she asks, smiling.
“Yep, I am,” Dylan replies, smiling modestly. “I’m going to propose to my partner.”
“Well, good for you.”
She finishes tying the ribbon and adds, “I hope she says yes!”
“Thank you,” Dylan says, taking the rose from her.
As he walks away, he can’t help but smile. A lightness builds up inside his chest as an adrenaline rush energises him.
*
Amber starts putting Dylan’s money into her cash box.
She’s working as a part-time florist in order to pay for her tattooing course at TAFE. Her life goal is to become a full-time tattooist. The tattooing process has fascinated her since the age of eight, when she saw her aunt use a tattoo gun on a friend.
Amber is about to put the Two-Dollar Coin into the box when she notices its unique design.
As she examines it, an unshaven man in dirty clothes suddenly runs up to and around the stall, pushing Amber to the ground. She falls with a gasp, dropping the Two-Dollar Coin, which rolls away.
The unshaven man quickly grabs a handful of cash from Amber’s open cash box and then starts running away.
“Somebody stop him!” Amber calls out.
A plain-clothes police officer, who’s talking to someone nearby, hears her and sees the unshaven man getting away. He gives chase, swiftly catching up and tackling him to the ground.
*
Megan, still strolling through Salamanca Market, looks over and sees a man in dirty clothes a few yards away. He’s being handcuffed by a plain-clothes police officer. Nearby, someone is comforting a florist, who’s pale and shaking.
Then, something on the ground catches Megan’s attention.
A two-dollar coin, laying on its tail side.
She picks it up and pockets it.
*
When Megan gets home, she walks into her room and pulls out all the coins left in her pocket and drops them back into the coin jar.
Among them is a two-dollar coin, seagulls flying around a sun on its tails side.
Callum J. Jones studied English, History, and Journalism at the University of Tasmania. He has written fiction and non-fiction for The Tasmanian Times since 2018. He can be traced by the smell of fresh coffee.
Follow him on Twitter (@Callum_Jones_10) and Facebook (@callum.j.jones.writer).
