Sayantani Das of Class 5, Epic Public School, shares this modern fairy tale set in Paris about a wealthy girl named Mint who learns the true value of money after a magical encounter with a beggar girl named Milly. A heartwarming tale of transformation, empathy, and self-discovery.
“Wow! Is this for me?” said Mint.
“Hey! I don’t allow beggars to touch my things!” screamed a manly voice.
“Shoo! Shoo! Get away!” he added.
You did not understand a bit, right? Well, my dear readers, get ready as I start narrating this story about someone who never paid attention to the value of money.
There was a girl—a teenager. A very rich one, as far as I remember. She lived in Paris, the current capital of France. Their house was a huge bungalow. Not even a bungalow, to be honest—it was a mansion. The kind of mansion that glittered like pure gold when sunlight fell on it.
Her mother, Charlotte, was the head of Bisco Shipping Lines (BSL) in France. She usually wore a short, sleeveless, above-the-knee tight black dress with criss-cross golden linings. Over that, she wore a white, V-necked, full-sleeved overcoat and a gorgeous golden belt. Her shiny black straight hair fell just past her shoulders. She had milky skin, faint pink lipstick, long lashes on diamond-like eyes, and shiny black 4-inch pencil heels on her feet.
Her father, on the other hand, was a lawyer. Evan was his name. He was quite well-known among the citizens. He wore a white-grey buttoned shirt under his navy blue, full-sleeved overcoat. Dark-rimmed, thick square glasses sat on his eyes. His hair was also black. He had a perfect, extremely dark, manly moustache. A bright red tie hung from his shirt collar, paired with dark sea-blue formal trousers. Silvery-black shoes covered his feet.
Their daughter Mint was a sweet girl, but she was very rude. Due to her high status, she never paid attention to the value of money. Her casual attire was a shirt tightly tucked into a small, above-the-knee skirt, with some casual Velcro shoes. Unlike her parents, her hair was completely blonde—except for one fine strand, which looked like it had been painted brown with a brush. Her eyes were sharp, lime green—eyes that would suit a panther perfectly.
One day, she was on her way home from school when something happened. An incident she would never forget. She was happily walking down the street when a girl—a beggar, almost her age—approached her. She wore torn clothes and had messy hair.
“What do you want from me?” Mint demanded.
“Please help me, I need to buy medicine for my brother,” the girl replied softly, yet helplessly.
“Oh really?” asked Mint as she took out a penny from her bag. “What’s your name, little girl?”
“Milly. They’ve called me Milly since my birth,” she replied.
“So, Milly,” said Mint, tossing the penny into a nearby wishing fountain, “if you can get me that penny back, I’ll give you this 100 Franc note.”
Hearing this, Milly immediately dipped her hands into the water and started searching. After a minute or two, she said,
“Here! Take it and please give me the money,” holding the penny out in her hand.
“Did you really think I would give it to you?” mocked the rich girl.
And then she did the unexpected—she tore the 100 Franc note in half and threw it away, all in front of Milly’s eyes!
Milly couldn’t hold back her tears.
“Why are people like this? I didn’t do anything wrong,” she thought.
The rich girl then suddenly spoke,
“Let both of us make a wish in the fountain and see whose wish comes true.”
So they both threw a coin into the fountain and made a wish. The rich girl wished for a new car, while Milly wished that Mint would learn the value of money.
After this, Mint went home—and Milly stayed where she’d always been.
Mint entered through the golden gate of her mansion. There, she saw a brand new lavender-coloured Ferrari with a flower made from bright red ribbon on it.
“Wow! Is this for me?” said Mint, extremely excited.
“Hey! I don’t allow beggars to touch my things!” screamed Evan.
“But Dad!” objected Mint.
“Shoo! Shoo! Get away!” her dad replied.
“Dad, can’t you recognise me? I’m Mint!” she said.
“You can’t be Mint,” Evan argued.
The argument continued for a while until Mint got angry and stormed out of the house. There was a small park nearby. She went there and sat on a bench. After some time, she got up and walked to the park lake. There, she saw her reflection—she had transformed into a beggar! Completely dirty and messy.
She immediately understood that Milly could be the only one behind this. She rushed to where she had met Milly. She reached the magical fountain and saw Milly, still begging as always.
“What did you do to me?” Mint shouted.
“I didn’t do anything,” Milly replied.
“I just wished you would get to know the value of money.”
“So, how do I get back to my normal self?” Mint asked.
“You remember that 100 Franc note you tore, right?”
“Yes, I do.”
“If you can get that torn note back, you’ll be back to normal.”
Mint first tried to retrieve it from her own home, but Milly saw her. Although Mint wasn’t successful, when she saw Milly, she got angry.
“What are you doing here!?” Mint shouted.
“Checking if you were getting the same note or not,” Milly replied.
Mint went on searching until she found one half of the note stuck under a bench. She took it and immediately began looking for the other half. She was tired, her body was aching. Just when she was about to give up, she saw the other half in the hand of a woman sitting at the edge of a lake.
“Excuse me, ma’am, can I have that torn note you have?” Mint asked politely.
“I would have given it to you, but I need this for my son’s treatment. Otherwise, he might die,” the woman replied.
Hearing this, Mint became emotional and handed over the half she had to the woman.
“You need it more than I do. Take it,” Mint said.
The woman thanked her. Mint then returned to the fountain and sat beside Milly.
“This is my fate, I guess,” thought Mint.
“Look at yourself,” said Milly.
Mint looked at her reflection in the fountain—she was normal again!
“But how? I don’t have that note with me,” said Mint, astonished.
“This happened because you understood that the woman needed it more than you. You finally understood the value of money. So, God made you normal again,” Milly explained.
Then, all of a sudden, Mint’s father arrived. He recognised her and took her back home.
After that, they lived happily.
