Pebble
words and music by Kay Pere

Standing at the check-out line
Late one Friday afternoon,
I'm the girl who bags the groceries here,
And this day can't end too soon.
I'm only seventeen, you see,
But I help to pay the rent.
So I have to work the evening shift
And wonder where my childhood went.

It's the same old thing, so sad, it's strange,
For hours on end I'm making change,
And reaching out to touch each hand
While they look right through me where I stand.

The next in line, she's five bucks short
Now she's digging through her purse.
She slips and dumps it on the floor.
Seems that things can't get much worse.
Then those in line around her help;
They gather coins so she can pay.
And as she hands me all her change, she says,
"Send this act of kindness on its way."

Just a tiny pebble, tossed into a pond,
So small it barely makes a ripple as it falls.
Even though it may be little, it knows down deep inside
That the waves it makes can reach out far and wide.
The waves it makes can reach out far and wide.

Later in the evening
There comes this guy I've seen at school.
He's never even noticed me.
Guess I'm not considered cool.
He's got seven cans of cat food
And a pile of sleeping pills.
Then he looks into my eyes
With such loneliness it gives me chills.

Well, I snap out of my daydream,
Stop feeling sorry for myself.
I say, "You don't need this Sominex.
I'll put it back up on the shelf."
"My work is done in fifteen minutes."
I tell him and he smiles.
I say, "I know an all-night diner
Where maybe we could sit and talk a while."

I am just a tiny pebble, tossed into a pond.
I'm so small I barely make a ripple as I fall.
But even though I may be little, I know down deep inside
That the waves I make can reach out far and wide.
The waves I make can reach out far and wide.

Over at the Greasy-Spoon
Where the conversation's easy, soon I'm
Telling jokes and he laughs so hard
He let's down his guard.
He says, "My parents split three weeks ago
And I watched my mother pack.
She's moved in with some other guy.
Says she won't be coming back.
Now my Dad, he's next to useless,
All day staring at the wall.
And at school I don't know anyone,
Just faces as they pass me in the hall.

I'm one of several billion people, just a face among the crowd.
I feel so small, it seems I hardly matter much at all.
But I am like a tiny pebble and I know down deep inside
That the waves I make can reach out far and wide.
The waves I make can reach out far and wide."

The waitress asks as she brings the bill,
"Is there something else that I can get."
Glancing at each other, we tell her,
"No thanks! We're all set."
Found so much more to live for.
Never going back to sleep.
Now he's reaching toward the waitress saying,
"Here's our check. The change is yours to keep."

We are all just a tiny pebbles, tossed into a pond.
We're so small we barely make a ripple as we fall.
But even though we may be little, we know down deep inside
That the waves we make will reach out far and wide.
The waves we make will reach out far and wide.

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Copyright Kay Pere  All rights reserved.