Free Fair Coin by E. C. Myers Page B

signaled a user leaving the chat sounded more like a steel door sliding shut, like the bars in a prison. Maybe the IM service had changed up their familiar audio files.
    Ephraim tapped the magic coin against his keyboard nervously. He hoped he wasn't making a mistake bringing Nathan in on this.
    Well, it was worth a shot to salvage their friendship, wasn't it? He had been miserable on his own at the party. He was used to sharing everything with Nathan; things were always more fun with his best friend around. They could really have a good time with this.
    And if it didn't work, if Nathan didn't believe him, he could still wish the problem away. It was a win-win situation. Ephraim flipped the coin and grinned. When you had magic on your side, anything was possible.
    Ephraim was late the next morning. The Number 8 bus had taken an entirely different route than the one he expected. He'd had to get off and sort out the new bus schedule. He finally figured out he needed to transfer to the Number 5, which had never gone anywhere near the park.
    Ephraim had still beaten Nathan there, at least. The fountain and its surrounding plaza served as the centerpiece of Greystone Park. The small area was paved with cobblestones and ringed by tall hedges. The Memorial Fountain was situated in the middle, marking the exact center of the sprawling park grounds. No one had ever been able to tell him what it was memorializing, though.
    A bronze figure of Atlas—the Greek Titan who carried the world on his shoulders—decorated the fountain, facing north. Instead of a globe, Atlas supported a large bronze basin from which water cascaded into the larger granite pool below. Quarters lined the bottom of it, glinting faintly in the clear water and morning sunlight.
    Ephraim wondered how much he had contributed to the fountain over the years since he had started coming there as a boy. And now just one coin was granting all his wishes.
    Cold water sprayed across Ephraim's face as he sat on the rim of the fountain, trailing one hand in the water. The homeless man from the night before wandered from around the fountain into view and stared hard at him. Ephraim tried his best to ignore him. He focused on the coins in the fountain and started adding them up in his head.
    “Spare some change?” the man said. Ephraim glanced at him but looked away quickly. The man's face was lined with dirt, and even on this hot summer day he wore a knit cap over his lanky hair. He had on a soiled gray thermal shirt with the sleeves rolled up. There was a tear in the seam over his right shoulder. The man reeked. Dried vomit crusted the front of his shirt.
    Ephraim pulled his backpack onto his lap and held onto it tight. The bottom of the bag had gotten wet, and he felt water seeping through his pants.
    “Sorry, no,” Ephraim said. He stared at all the quarters on the bottom of the fountain. Why didn't the man just help himself?
    “Hey! Get away from him!” Nathan came around the fountain from the other direction and glared at the bum.
    “I'm just trying to get something to eat,” the man said.
    Nathan leaned over and swept a cupped hand through the water, splashing the homeless man and getting a fair amount on Ephraim as well. “Never mind food. You need a shower!” Nathan shouted.
    Ephraim had never seen Nathan act like this before—by default he was mild-mannered, shy unless you knew him, which came from being bullied himself his whole life. Ephraim wondered if Nathan was taking his anger at Ephraim out on the wrong person.
    The homeless man scowled and shambled off.
    “Nathan, was that really necessary?” Ephraim said. “He wasn't hurting anything. I was just going to ignore him.”
    Nathan's camera flashed. “Heh. You wet yourself,” he said. Ephraim looked down; the crotch and inner thighs of his jeans were wet.
    “It's just water from the fountain. Thanks to you.”
    “Water. Sure it is.” Nathan checked the picture, nodded to himself, then sat down on