Lucky Number

Intended for children ages 8 to 10 years old.

My name is Honey and today is my birthday. I like numbers and I am thinking of choosing the number four as my new lucky number. I am now eight years old, which is two times four. My sister calls me four-eyes because I wear glasses; she is twelve years old, which is three times four.

This morning I watched dad in the back yard practising golf. He is forty-eight years old, which is twelve times four. He swung his club and shouted, "Fore!" as the ball went flying.

Mum picked up her car keys and said, "Come on Honey, you don’t want to be late for Mrs. Ulman". Mum drives me to my piano lesson every Tuesday. Mum is thirty-two years old, which is eight times four.

"Thanks for the lift Mum," I said as I got out the car at Mrs. Ulman’s house. It is number forty-four, which is eleven times four. I smoothed down my new dress and skipped up to the front door and knocked.

Mrs. Ulman’s son Moishe opened the door. "Great timing Honey. Mum is just finishing with Jia." He raised his eyebrows, "Wow! Smart dress!" He stepped back, swung his arm out and bowed. "Please, come in your highness."

I punched him playfully on the arm, "Shut up Moishe."

We went into the music room where Moishe’s mum and Jia were sitting at the piano. Jia jumped up and ran over, "Happy birthday, Honey." She gave me a big hug.

"Do you feel any different now that you are eight?" asked Mrs. Ulman.

"Well, I was thinking of changing my lucky number to four", I answered.

Moishe turned to his mum. "Four is a lucky number for us Jews, isn’t it mum?"

"Yes dear. It is certainly very important in Jewish religious celebrations like Passover."

Jia shook her head. "The number four is not lucky to the Chinese. In fact it means death." She drew her index finger across her throat. "The number eight, though, is very lucky. It means you are going to get a fortune very soon."

"Well," said Mrs Ulman, " if Honey can manage to stay in-tune today I think it will be very fortunate for us all. Get it? ‘Four-tune-eight’. She laughed.

"Oh dear," we all said together, laughing too. "Perhaps you should stick to teaching piano."

(Word count: 389 words)


© Mark Ashton 2004

Four Times Table
1 x 4 = 4
2 x 4 = 8
3 x 4 = 12
4 x 4 = 16
5 x 4 = 20
6 x 4 = 24
7 x 4 =28
8 x 4 = 32
9 x 4 = 36
10 x 4 = 40
11 x 4 = 44
12 x 4 = 48