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The Lucky Penny

by Daniel Charles Ross

rounds was zippin over my head at the speed of sound and bangin into the dirt all aroun raising little dust devils to mark the spots where you didnt wanna be a second ago. we was shootin the hell outta them but runnin low on ammo and the resupply chopper was still 18 minutes out but comin. it was gonna be close but if this job was easy any damn fool could do it. when a bullet nick the top of my helmet i drop behind the berm and duck my head. supposably too late for that but its a reflex you cant shake. war teaches you things like duck when you get shot at and put direct pressure on a suckin chest wound. so i took a little nick in my kevlar and i duck and when i got the damn dust out my eyes thats when i found the penny. a penny is one cent american and it was just layin there in the dirt and the stones fercrissakes. the damn bad guys dont spend pennies so where did it come from. i picked it up because i always found money back home in the world. i found a 50 once and we ate pizza that night biggern stuttgart livin large and a couple beers and paid on the light bill too. in school you find money all over if all yuz do is look down alla time and i found beaucoups of money in my life. so i pick the penny up and wiped it on my bdus and held it to the light and the damn bad guys i swear tried to shoot it off my hand. their bullets are not strong as my lucky penny though and when i shoot back it taste like beer.

 

 

 

(Copyright 2015 Military Experience & the Arts, Inc.)

Who We Are

Military Experience and the Arts, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization whose primary mission is to work with veterans and their families to publish short stories, essays, poems, and artwork in our biannual publication, As You Were: The Military Review, periodic editions of Blue Nostalgia: The Journal of Post-Traumatic Growth and others. To the best of our ability, we pair each author or poet that submits work to us with a mentor to work one-on-one to polish their work or learn new skills and techniques.

Our staff is based all over the country and includes college professors, professional authors, veterans’ advocates, and clinicians. As such, most of our services are provided through email and online writing workshops.

All editing, consultations, and workshops are free of charge. Veterans and their families pay nothing for our services, and they never will.

Under our Publications tab, there are more than two dozen volumes of creative work crafted by veterans and their family members as well as a virtual art gallery. Our blog posts feature short pieces that cover a wide range of opinion editorials, literary reviews, and profiles on veteran artists and writers.

Please consider spending some time navigating our site and reading and seeing the fine work of veterans and their families from around the globe.

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