Ever since she was first born, eight-year-old Pumpernickel had more freckles than spots on a Dalmatian. Her nose and cheeks were full of tiny curious dots like the caraway and poppy seeds in pumpernickel bread. She loved her freckles because they made her different. She thought they were memorable, and she certainly wanted to be remembered by everyone.
“If you had a nickel for every freckle!” her father called to her with a laugh.
“If I grew more freckles, then maybe I would have more nickels to give you!” Pumpernickel said. She wondered if she could somehow make her freckles work in her favor.
“It doesn’t really work that way, honey,” Pumpernickel’s mom said. “Freckles and money are not related.”
“Well, if I had my picture on a cereal box, I’d be famous, and then I’d probably have more nickels,” Pumpernickel said. “If a famous photographer saw how cute I am, then the whole world just might want to give me nickels for my freckles. I’m cuter than President Thomas Jefferson on nickels, and our house is cozier than Monticello.”
Pumpernickel held up the Cerealworks box, pointing out the adorable smiling girl with braids featured on it. She dreamed of her face being featured on it one day.
“Don’t look too closely, but there’s a contest on that cereal box to have your picture featured on it for six months,” her father said. He rolled his eyes and bit his lip. “Do you want to enter the contest?”
“Enter the contest? I’m going to win it,” Pumpernickel announced. She ran to get the family camera and handed it to her father.
“Say cheese!” her father said. “Smile!”
She grinned as big as she could while her dad snapped picture after picture.
“We’ll put these photos in the mail tomorrow after I get the film developed at the camera shop,” her father promised.
“Try not to get your hopes up,” Pumpernickel’s mom warned her. “Contests are so hard to win! You are definitely worthy of being on the cereal box, but contests aren’t always fair.”
“I’ll forget about it for now,” Pumpernickel said with a hopeful look on her face.
Well, she decided to sort of forget about it. She started a letter writing campaign and told everyone she knew to write Cerealworks and ask them to let her win the contest. She even hung up her picture all around her hometown of Honey Brook, Pennsylvania, and asked people to write Cerealworks to help her become the winner. She was certain that she was making a big effort.
Months later, she had been lamenting not hearing a word from the Cerealworks contest officials. She wondered if she had not gathered enough support from her letter writing campaign and flyers of herself.
Days turned into weeks, and the mailman became her least favorite person. He never seemed to bring the letter she was waiting for. Most of it was either junk mail or bills.
Just when Pumpernickel had almost forgotten about being featured on a cereal box, she got a letter in the mail. She came home from school to find an envelope waiting for her — from the Cerealworks company. She felt like she had already accomplished so much by the second grade.
“It’s probably a rejection letter, Pumpernickel,” her father said. “Don’t be too disappointed!”
Before her mother could open the envelope, Pumpernickel snatched it and tore it open. At the top of the letter, the word WINNER was printed in big bold letters.
“I’m a winner!” she said. She jumped up and down waving the letter.
“Congratulations!” her father said. Pumpernickel could tell that he could hardly believe the good news. He shook his head, still in disbelief.
“Mom, take me to the grocery store, so I can see my face on a cereal box,” Pumpernickel said. “We have to buy a bunch of boxes!”
“Okay, honey!” her mom said. “Hop in the car, and I’ll take you before dinner.”
As Pumpernickel and her mom arrived at the grocery store, she ran from the car into the store and down the cereal aisle. She stopped and looked at the Cerealworks boxes, but her face was nowhere to be found. As she turned around, she looked at her mom with sadness.
“Well, honey, I don’t know where your cereal box is,” her mom said with a perplexed tone in her voice.
A moment later, an employee from the grocery store pushed a big cart down the aisle and stopped next to Pumpernickel.
“Looking for one of these?” the employee said. “We just got them into the store today!”
As Pumpernickel looked up, she saw an entire cart filled with cereal boxes with her face on them. She felt like it was her birthday and Christmas all rolled into one day.
“It’s me!” she cried. “I made it to the big time!”
Pumpernickel’s mom stared in awe at the cereal boxes.
“I’m going to tell your father to open a bank account just for you when I get home,” her mother said. “So, when the cereal company sends you a big fat check, he can save it to pay your college tuition.”
“But mom . . . I think I’m going to be a model,” Pumpernickel said. She ran through the store, handing out Cerealworks boxes to the customers in the aisles and in the cash register lines. “This is just the beginning!”
Maybe freckles really could make you rich — in nickels, smiles, and dreams come true.
Copyright 2019 Jennifer Waters
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