12 Pieces of Coins

12 pieces of 5-cent coins

One, two, three... four, five, six... As my little niece continue to count few coins that she found scattered on the corners of our small house. We were having our dinner @ 7p.m., with my wife, 2 sons, and my 5 year-old niece, who did not eat because she was busy counting her coins on the table. My wife said to her, "Did you ate already?", "No", she replied. "I need to save money because we don't have money". I said "Why is that? Surely you have money, otherwise you'll be thin & starving." Then the little girl said in her husky little voice, "No we don't have money, because my mother & father are always fighting. I always hear mommy tell daddy that we do not have money, that is why they quarrel. I need to have money so they won't fight"..
And my wife, to whom i am married for 12 years, looked at me in the eyes with a heavy feeling. As my heart was filled with sadness, there was silence on the dining table for a few seconds. Then the little girl yelled "Twelve! i have twelve coins! How many more shall i need to make one peso?". "Only Eight more", my wife replied. Pointing to her coins, the little girl said "If you have more of this please give them to me?". We said "Yes, we will... for sure.".
As soon as we finished dinner, my wife took time to find her purse filled with quarters and gave them to my niece. The sadness i felt was somehow alleviated when we saw the joy in the kid's face. Her gummy smile was priceless, so precious. It was authentic happiness, not because she has lots of coins now, but she hope she can have enough coins so her parents won't argue all the time. It breaks my heart to see her effort, so i went outside to grasp for a breathe of that cold fresh air. I prayed that her 12 pieces of coins would make a difference before it's too late...#