"Good thing I found it." He laughed louder and held it up. The coin caught the sun and flashed bright like gold. But Sammy's smile shone brighter yet as he carefully placed his find in his pocket.

"I'll buy a balloon from the balloon man and let it go."

"Why?" A strange reason for buying a balloon.

"So I can watch it fly free and disappear." He sounded perfectly reasonable, but my gut warned me of dangerous ground. I retreated and changed the subject.

"How about ...