Fools' Gold

 

Prologue

 

Here I am, sitting on the frigid, hard asphalt ground, my back relying on the wall of a shanty house, while my eyes looked helplessly up into the dreary, clouded canvas of a sky. It was not as if I had not brought this upon myself; that is, having to scrounge around like a desperado for basic needs. Comforts were nearly a thing of imagination at this point. Wants? Ha! I know a lot about wants; they disgust me. All of the things I used to have haunt me daily; every corner I turn, somebody laughs at the joke of my life. They say mean words, but it was comin’ to me. After everything I did and said… well, in short, it was expected; that does not make the rejection any easier, though.

 

 

 

 

 

Story

 

It was the day after the last day of high school. I had graduated, and was about to go to university. I would than earn a degree and find a place in this world to settle down and become just another face.

 

            Well, that was what my parents thought. It was logical, but boring. I’d never make even a scratch, let alone a mark on the Earth to be remembered by, if I so choose to live that way. I had other plans that I had stored in the future, walked back to the present, and now I was going to retrieve those stored plans.

 

            I would go to Vengeles, a city filled with the wealthy, just for a week. If I got lucky and won the jackpot there, I could make something of myself; I could become a millionaire in just a few days; I could swoon people with all my dough and shiny things; I’d be on a permanent vacation. I could afford to forget all the troubles… If I got lucky.

 

 

 

            So there I was on the bus, just a few minutes from victory. I mean Vengeles. No… I mean victory. I had been driven for four hours, and everyone was getting tired of sitting down.

 

            I watched normal houses as they turned into expensive mansions while I looked out the window. One day I would live in one of those unpractically big homes, I was sure of it.

 

            After a few more minutes had passed, the bus arrived at the bus stop. We all got off and walked separate ways. I headed to Instant Millionaire, Vengeles’s extraordinarily famous store in which people would pay a dollar or so, to see if they were they lucky person that won 1 million, 5 million, 15 million or 50 million dollars. 15 million dollar winners were once every 3 years, 5 million were once a year and 1 million dollar winners happened once every month. 50 million happened once in every 20 years, which made it rare, but I still hoped that I’d be the lucky one. If you’re wondering how this business even made money, well, they have about 25 million people visit per year, and considering that they only need an average of about 14 million dollars per year for the winners, and that every person who comes pays a dollar or more… You get the point.

 

            Anyways, so after 24 minutes of walking, I found Instant Millionaire. I remember that the inside was decorated nicely, but it didn’t strike me as “millionaire”. Then again, decorating the inside with gold and gems would be plain stupid, considering how crowded with people the place is and how easy it would be to snatch up something; then again, it is a million dollar company, and they could afford high a high quality defense system… Ah, I’m over thinking it.