Fountains

When I was little, I lived in Olympia. We lived near the capitol building and so my brother and I played on the capitol grounds a lot. They had a lot of nice flat areas for biking and there were a variety of fountains in different parts of the capitol campus.

One particular fountain was in front of the capitol library. It looked like it had been built in the 60s and had a large rectangular pool with geysers that shot water in the middle. It was full of change because it was the kind of fountain where you throw in a penny (or a nickel or quarter, if you're feeling rich) and make a wish.

Well, I was about ten at the time and my brother was seven. I decided we needed some change to go to the Frog Pond, our local corner store. I had a serious craving for some Lemonheads and some Jolly Ranchers (I liked the caramel stix), but I didn't have any money and neither did Scott.

Then it hit me like a sugar rush! I knew what we could do to get some candy money! So my brother and I went to the capitol and proceeded to loot the change from the fountain. We made a bee line to the Frog Pond and loaded up on penny candy. I think we ended up with about 70 cents each, which was great because Lemonheads were 10 cents for a small a box, Jolly Rancher stix were 10 cents, and licorice whips were 3 cents. No, I'm not that old, the Frog Pond just catered to kids.

So, if you've ever made a wish and tossed some change in a fountain and your wish hasn't come true, then your wish money might have been re-directed to a candy fund by a thieving kid with a big sweet tooth like me.