Lottery

Ticket

Lottery - Ticket

It all started with the lottery ticket.

    The young man was walking home from work.  It had been a pretty normal day, just doing all his accounts, fixing those numbers for his boss, et cetera, et cetera.

    He bought himself a coffee at the local Starbucks and sat on a nearby bench, waiting for his beverage to cool.  He pulled out a newspaper and read it as he sipped on his cappuccino.

    He looked around and sighed.  Everybody that was standing or sitting near him had been in the exact same place, this time yesterday.  Everybody was doing the exact same thing in the exact same place, this time yesterday.  The old man with the grey trench coat was sitting at one of the tables outside Starbucks sipping a hot chocolate.  The pretty, young redhead was standing, leaning on a lamp-post, fiddling with her Blackberry.  She had been doing that for the past week and he could see why some people called them 'Crackberries'.  He sighed.    

    His name was Jack Murray, and he was in a rut.

    Wake up, go to work, have lunch, work some more, leave, buy a coffee, read the paper, go home.  Not to mention having his mediocre dinner cooked by his wife, who was a terrible cook but no one says, listening to his little girls telling him about their day at school, watching some crappy primetime TV and going to bed.  That was pretty much it.  

    Jack gulped down the last of his drink and set off for his house.  He started to wind his way through the streets of his hometown, Glenness, when he came to the edge of the lane.

    It was Bridgeton Alley, a small, narrow street that nobody used, but that he knew led to his house.  He wasn't really in a hurry, but he wanted to get home, so Jack decided to take the shortcut.  

    He was walking down the lane, watching the shadows cautiously (you never knew what kind of 'weirdo' might jump out at you) when there was a gust of wind and a small piece of paper blew into his face.  He flinched and it dropped to the ground.  Bemused and curious, Jack stooped to pick it up.  He held it in one hand and peered at the writing.  It turned out that it was a lottery ticket that had been purchased just two and a half hours ago.  It was a bit dusty, probably the result of blowing about in the streets for the past hour or so, but he decided to take it home with him.

    He happened to know that the big lottery draw was tonight, and you never knew when you could get lucky.  He folded it and put it in his coat pocket.  He then walked out of the gloomy alleyway with a slight spring in his step.  His house was a small, modern looking sandstone house with a driveway and a small garage that was built into his house.  His house wasn't huge or the nicest house in Glenness, but it was home.  He walked up the little stone pathway, noticing that the girls had left all their toys outside again, opened the door and stepped inside.  His was immediately greeted by his wife, Eve.   

    'Hi dear,' she said.  'How was work?'

    'Not bad...' he said, without much effort.  He sniffed.  'Oh!  What is that smell?'

    'It was Jennifer!' his little girl, Christine, giggled.

    Jack laughed.  'No, don't be silly.  I mean, what is that lovely aroma.' he said, gesturing towards the sizzling pan on the stove.  

    'Oh that.  That's chicken stir fry.'

    'Has it got carrots in it?'  

    Eve sighed.  'Yes, Christine.  Stop whinging.'

    He smiled.  Girls will be girls, he thought.  He poured himself a gin and tonic and went over to sit on the couch.  He switched the channel over to the animated version of The Ricky Gervais Show and relaxed, stretching his legs out.  Eve came over to join him on the couch and he smiled and put his arm around her.  

    Later that night, he watched the results, got every single number, won the huge cash prize and bought everything he had ever wanted.  He then moved out of his modest bungalow and moved into a fantastic house made of solid gold and the family lived happily ever after.

    If only that were true...

    He didn't buy a house made of solid gold and the family didn't live happily ever after.

    In fact, picking up that lottery ticket in the alleyway would prove to be the biggest mistake he had ever made in his unfortunate life. 

     To be continued...