Word: Spondulicks

 

spondulicks

or spon·du·lix

[ spon-doo-liks ]

noun Older Slang.

1. money; cash.

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               As the people of the city bustled around, Nick sat in contemplation. As they all went about their life, he thought carefully about his. What he needed to do. What he wanted to do. There were a lot of both, but the needs were more pressing than the wants, so his mind focused on that.

               The first thing he needed to do was clear. He needed to learn the local language. Or at least, figure out another way to communicate with people. He was sorely disappointed in whatever higher power brought him to his current location. Numerous stories had trained him to believe that being sent to another world would automatically come with a translation power. Unfortunately, that proved not to be the case, leaving him stranded in an unfamiliar land with no knowledge of the rules he would need to work within, and no means of finding out said rules.

               But before he could figure out communication, he would need food and shelter. The means to survive the next few days would be crucial. New clothes to not stand out like a sore thumb would also be important to his immediate well being, although to a lesser extent. And to make all that work, he needed money.

               He would need money to buy supplies and to get a place to stay. Money to get new clothes and any traveling supplies he might need. Money could even help with his language issues, since he would be able to buy learning tools.

               It all came down to money. Or rather, his lack of ability to earn it. What kind of job cold he do without basic literacy? And even those jobs would be difficult without the ability to understand what he was being told. If he was lucky, this world would have magic in it. Magic which could include translation spells. Of course he had yet to see any magic being used, but maybe it was something only a few people could use. He would have to find that out later. Somehow.

               For now, his best bet was to observe. He had always been told that being fully immersed in a language was the best way to learn it. He did not need much right away. Just enough to earn a bit of whatever money was used. He assumed it was coins of various types, since he saw a lot of them being exchanged at various shops. That would be interesting to deal with. And maybe he would get lucky and some careless person would drop one or two. He knew it happened in his old world, which only used coins rarely. In a world where it was the normal, there could only be more such accidents. At least, he hoped so.

               Until Nick saw someone misplace a coin, all he could do was what he already was doing. Sitting, waiting and listening. He would do so for as long as it took to either figure out enough language to get a job, or scavenge enough money to get a meal. Whichever came first. He was not picky about that. He was patient though. In his situation, lost in another world without money or linguistic ability, that patience was all he could rely on. 

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It always comes down to money, doesn't it? And in most cases, the lack of it. This isn't the place to wax political about the nature of the rich vs. poor or wealth inequalities though, so I won't. A lot of people much smarter (and many, many people dumber) than me have already gone into great length on that subject, so there isn't much for me to add.