John was distraught. His adopted parents, who really cared for him, were dead. Now, he was led to a strange place called an ‘orphanage’, although he was not sure how this was related to age. Yet, he had something very precious- he had a memory, a memory that was of a time when he was stupendously happy, just before their death. He had always been artistic, and his flair was a well-known fact. He loved to draw, but he had no canvas or paints. John did, though, have an idea. He reimagined the memory and engraved it on his last birthday present, an old coin, which he treasured. The intricacy of the image was such, that no one would know if that coin replaced another. Unfortunately for him, the coin would lead him right into a mess.

John treasured his ‘merry memory coin’ as he termed it and never let it out of his sight. He loved it so much, that he would always have it in his trouser pocket. On Friday, when had to give his clothes for a wash, he told his friend Jack, “Thank god, I kept the coin in my drawer, the last person I want having it is that nasty laundress. She would likely spend it, on purpose”

Unluckily for him, though, he had kept, not the ‘merry memory coin’ but another doppelganger in its place, in his drawer. Later that day, the laundress noticed a glitter in the fading light. “Aha! One of these orphan brats decided to gift us today! How nice of you, John,” the laundress remarked to herself.

Back in the orphanage, a large, cube-shaped building with square rooms, John had discovered his loss. He was dejected. “Why did I forget it? How could I be so clumsy?” he told Jack, “Now I’ll have to plead to the laundress.”

“It's ok, you can do that afterwards, come and have your dinner now. We’ll both go tomorrow.”

The next day though, Jack was not to be seen anywhere. John was worried, but he decided to go for himself. He asked the laundress, “Did you find a coin in my trouser yesterday, miss? Because, that coin was really very special to me.”

“Hmm, I have a lot of coins at home and I might have got one, but I don’t know,” the laundress replied, absent-mindedly.

“But miss, can you try to fi-” John began.

“Don’t you know not to disturb me, I haven’t seen any coins and if you keep bothering me, I’ll report you.”

John held back a scathing remark, with effort, but seared with rage inside. The laundress, meanwhile, smiled with malice, “Our next victim,” was all she said.

To lighten his mood, John went to buy a candy. As change, he got back a coin, a very special one. That coin, had intricately designed artwork, woven from threads of time and memories, the-

“merry memory coin!” exclaimed John. In extreme joy after retrieving treasure, he forgot his candy. The shopkeeper called him back, “kid, you forgot your candy.”

“Oh, sorry!” replied John, apologetically and took the candy as well. Had he looked up a second earlier, he would have seen a pair of malicious eyes and lips twisted into a menacingly gleeful smile. A pair of arms brought down a club on his head and knocked him out. The next thing he knew, he was falling through air and remembered looking at a familiar, limp, and motionless body, which had Jack’s face. Even as John fell, the coin rolled down a small hill in the park and came to a stop at the bottom, face down, like its former, artistic owner.