Mr Money (IP)

Some called him Franc, others called him Dollar Bill but most just called him Mr Money.

No one knew exactly where he had sprung from or much about him besides the fact that he was a frightening person; a devilish loan shark of sorts, although, judging by his big hook shaped grin of glittering platinum fillings and the hunch upon his back that was sort of fin shaped, he may well have been a real shark, just dressed up in a man’s clothing.

Anyway, the children round about where I lived always used to view him with a mixture of trepidation and loathing. They said that, when the moon shone across his face, he didn’t have eyes but big, silver coins glittering in his eye sockets and that, if you took a loan from Mr Money, you’d pay him back with your soul.

One little girl, they said, came into her school one day, dressed in the finest clothing from a fancy high street emporium when, the week before, she had been wearing her brothers ragged hand-me-downs then, about nine months later, she’d stopped coming to school and no one was quite sure where she or her family had gone.

They’d just vacated their house suddenly; the luxury house they had moved into after moving out of a grim, squalid, slum; just disappeared without a word to anyone but they said that lying on the floor of that little girls room was a silver coin and that, instead of the queens head or the face of some president, it only had her face on it; screaming.

Then they say Mr Money turned up at the house, claiming that he’d left something behind there, accidentally and, entering the house, had picked up that coin from the floor and flipped it into the bottomless pocket of his pinstripe jacket.

One boy, they say, however, did get away from Mr Money, a long, long time ago.

Tom Holly, he was called and he was an orphan with a face that was dirty and wore old, shabby, ragged clothes but Mr Money saw that he had a soul like a flawless, glittering diamond and longed to get his grubby hands upon it.

And, one day, he saw Tom looking in the window of a big toy shop full of bright toys and games and, just by jingling his purse full of cursed coins, Mr Money made the window light up and all the toys and games within come to life.

The sails of a toy sailing ship billowed, a toy tin marching band marched along, drumming and tooting trumpets; pretty, porcelain ballerina’s leapt and twirled and a big painted rocking horse with a long, golden mane whinnied and cantered.

Then, putting a hand upon the boys shoulder, the old monster said, “Wondrous toys, eh Tom? Wouldn’t you like to buy that rocking horse or that sailing ship or that marching band? Wouldn’t they be fun?!”.

And Tom didn’t look up because his eyes were glued to the golden glow of the toy treasures in the shop window but he nodded.

Then, grinning, Mr Money held out a bag full of his jingling coins and they sounded almost like music; like the jingle of little, silver bells to his ears.
“Take this money then, Tom, and buy all the toys that your heart desires”, said the villain.

Tom was surprised and, never suspecting that this stranger might have evil intentions, only thought him incredibly generous.

“Really?”, the boy gasped, “All that money? For me? For nothing?”.

“Oh no, not for nothing”, replied the wicked Mr Money, “But for a child’s happiness; for the golden glow in his eyes and the silver smile upon his face. All those things are precious to me”.

And so, Tom took the money and thanked the strange man for his kindness and Mr Money went on his way, chuckling under his breath, “A child’s happiness; the golden glow in his eyes; the silver smile upon his face. All those things are precious to me. That is why I want to steal them away”.

But, just as Tom was about to enter the toyshop with the jingling bag of coins, he heard a plaintive voice call out to him, “Spare a penny for my poor baby boy who’s sick and starving”.

And, looking down, he saw a young mother clutching an infant in her arms and begging and, feeling a pang of remorse in his heart, he gave her the bag of coins in his hand instead, saying, “Your baby needs milk and medicine more than I need a painted rocking horse”.

Nine months passed by then and Tom almost completely forgot about the strange man who had given him a bag of coins but then, one night, when the moon was large and bright and looked just like a giant shilling or a sixpence, Tom looked up from his window in the orphanage where he lived and thought he saw the face of that man grinning down at him and it frightened Tom because it didn’t look like he had a kind expression on his face but one of malevolent glee.

Then the man winked at him and, all of a sudden, a silver moonbeam that was shining through the window started to turn into a large hand that grabbed Tom by the wrist and he heard Mr Money’s
wicked laughter echo around his room, “Ha! Ha! Little boy. Now I’ll take from you what you owe me”.

But, just at that moment, an angel appeared. The angel of charity, clutching the infant cherub of love in her arms.

“You shall not have him!”, she said, glaring up at the wicked face upon the moon, “Take your money and be gone!”.

And, saying this, she hurled his jingling purse of cursed coins up towards the moon and it struck the grinning Mr Money right in the eye then, growling, the vile demon vanished just as a large black cloud was passing in front of the moon.

“I remember you”, said Tom, looking up at the angel that was dressed in a long robe of glittering, golden, sunlight, “You are the woman who was begging outside the toyshop with your child”.

“All children are my children”, said the Angel, smiling warmly like the rising sun upon the world’s edge and then she too vanished but, where she had stood, Tom now saw a rocking horse and a toy
marching band; a spinning, dancing, porcelain ballerina and a toy ship with billowing sails and other even more fabulous toys and, gathering them up, he shared them with all the other orphans and they had lots of fun.