Of Coins, and a hole in my heart

Every morning, when the huge school gates opened to let me in, I used to feel the coins in my pocket, and I felt stronger and richer, every passing minute. A sense of power gripped my otherwise timid mind. In my pocket, lay the treasures of a lonely boy. The coins meant that I could be man for those 30 minutes, before the bell rang, and I had to run back to my class after the recess. There was a tree that relied heavily on one of the school's boundary walls. I'm sure it had been planted by someone who was about to walk out of the school gates for the last time, and wanted to leave his heart inside. That tree had the perfect height, balance and position to help a boy get a taste of the big bad world outside. Real People, Real Cars, Real abuses.....and real eatables !.. And man, what a royal spread !.. "Choto Kul", "aamshi", "tetuler aachar", "Aamra" and what not. The key to this grand kingdom lay in my pocket. As I reached for the coins, they would make the sweetest tinkling sound, of approval and joy !

Years have passed. My pocket got bigger, and so did the holes in the pocket. But the coins are nowhere to be found, and the sweet sound they would make.....its all gone. Plastic can buy you more, but not better....