It was December 25. Marie Orr, a 13-year-old Australian girl, was happy. It was Christmas, and Marie's mother was making a special cake for dessert. Her mother put four small coins into the cake; then she baked it. The four coins were for good luck.
After dinner Marie and her family ate the cake. They found three coins in the cake and put them on the table. Where was the fourth coin? It was missing, but Marie's mother didn't notice.
After Christmas Marie got sick. She coughed, and she couldn't speak. After six weeks she felt better, but she still couldn't speak. Marie's parents took her to the hospital.
Doctors at the hospital looked at Marie. They took an x-ray of her throat. Marie's parents asked the doctors, "Why can't Marie speak?" The doctors said, "We don't know. Maybe she will speak again. Maybe she won't. We're sorry, but we can't help her."
For 12 years Marie didn't speak. She grew up, she got a job, and she got married. But she never spoke.
One day, when Marie was 25 years old, she got a sore throat at work. She began to cough. She coughed up something small and black. What was it? Marie didn't know. She took it to the hospital. A doctor at the hospital said, "This is a coin!"
The doctor told Marie, "I think you can speak again." Marie went to a special doctor, and soon she was talking.
What a story Marie can tell!