hope

a girl once had an old piggy bank. it had been given to her 3 years ago. by a special person on a special occasion. it was purple. cool. handy. and special. very special. in the girl's eyes.

mama came along and gave a savings account and a debit card for the girl recently with huge interest rates. the atm card was so stylish and had great shopping/dining perks.

but the girl never ever used the debit card. she was busy putting all her coins in the old piggy bank.

the piggy bank could fill no more. but the girl kept trying to squeeze coins in anyway. there were cracks showing on the surface due to the force of her efforts. whatever she could not squeeze in, she carried around anyway, heavy as it was, hoping to fit it into the piggy bank one day. she was obsessed with the thought of putting every coin she owned in it. she had to put every coin she had into it, she had to.

when mama found out, she was upset. the account she had signed the girl up for had close to nothing in it. when she went to question the girl, the girl merely replied: "But i like purple."

this went on for months. and the girl gave various interesting responses to mama's occasional probing about the lack of use of the account. "Accounts should be used when i start working, i'm still a little girl." "oh, opps! i forgot that i had a savings account before i inserted my money into my piggy bank." sometimes, the girl got angry with mama's incessant probings and lashed back at her.

one day, while trying to fit 18 $1 coins into her purple piggy bank, the girl, in frustration, smashing her fist against the coin slot in an attempt to propel the protruding coin in. the piggy bank cracked, and she cut her palm.

the girl cried. and cried. and cried. not just coz her palm was hurt. but so was her beloved piggy bank, broken. it was a slight gaping wound in the side of the piggy bank, but coins flowed clumsily out of it anyway, like blood from a gaping cut. like the tears from her eyes.

tears still in her eyes, the girl picked up the coins that flowed out. after a moment, she tilted the entire piggy bank and poured all it's contents out of the wound onto the table. she gathered them. and went to mama to place it in her account.

she took the purple piggy bank and placed it on her top shelf. she never forgets its there.