My Unflattering Moment

It happened a long time ago, but I still remember it as it had happened yesterday.

It was kind of like a ritual in my elementary school to give credit to the students who give back the money they found in random places. The principal used to read the name of those students in the school’s studio station weekly. As a naïve little kid in first grade, I thought it would be a great honor to be mentioned by the principal. So I made up my mind to be good and honest - give back the money I found on the ground.

But the problem is… I have never got a chance to find money on the ground.

My chance ran into me on a sunny day after school, when I was walking back to my house. All of a sudden, I saw something shiny on the ground. It’s a quarter! I was so excited that I start picturing the principal reading my name in front of the whole school. “I finally found a quarter on the ground!” I said to myself. When I was about to pick up the quarter, I had a feeling that someone was watching me. I raised my head and looked around – there was an old lady sitting in front of her house across the street. I couldn’t actually see her face clear, but I just had this feeling that her eyes were on me. This made me embarrassed in some ways, “Is she thinking that I’m going to keep the money as my own?” I thought for a second and this groundless idea was sprawling in my head. “I don’t want people to think I’m stealing the money” I said to myself, “but I do want to get credit for my honesty.” My little heart was struggling, it was a really hard decision for me to make at that time. “What should I do?” I asked my self again and again. When I recognized that it’s even worse standing in the mid of nowhere because that lady would think I’m acting awkward and probably think I’m going to do something bad. I need to make the decision now, I told myself. NOW!

I ran away. Yes, I ran away with that shiny quarter waving its hand saying “good-bye” to me. I was about to cry when I got back. The story ends with my grandma’s surprised facial expression and a line, “ I never noticed before that your little mind could think that much on this kind of thing!”