WHAT IF…
What if you thought you had the winning Lotto ticket and then weren’t able to claim the prize? Wellingtonian, Ryan Gibson, had that experience.
It began when he was sitting alone on a sofa in his living room. Leaning back, he stared in disbelief at the glowing TV screen and then at the rectangle of yellow paper in his hand.
He’d written down the winning numbers as one Lotto ball after another came to rest on-screen. He was sure he’d been accurate when recording the result and when subsequently comparing the notepad numbers to the numbers on the ticket. He’d underlined each one with increasing excitement.
He carefully re-checked, his heart in his throat. Then he leaped up with a whoop of delight. On the spot, he did an uncharacteristic jig of celebration; one he would never have done in public. Even now, he could hardly believe it. An instant fortune would never just drop in his lap; money had to be earned by hard slog. Only a lucky few got a windfall. Not that he’d necessarily won the whole million dollars. To find out, he’d have to wait for the confirmed results.
But even if he got half, it was more than he’d earn in ten years as a high school teacher.
Bursting to share his news (hoping he hadn’t miss-checked the ticket) he thought of phoning his girlfriend, Kristen. But she would be doing an evening shift at the hospital and had told him when they first started dating never to phone her at work unless it was a dire emergency. He could text her but he preferred to wait until he could tell her face to face. By that stage, he’d know the final results of the Lotto draw and be sure, one way or the other.
He said under his breath, “I never thought I’d see the day!” He knew that the win would become totally real only when he had the prize money in his bank account. The staggering sum of money would make him a millionaire – until he started spending and giving away.
When Ryan woke, the natural light in the bedroom seemed much brighter than it should have been. He’d agreed with Kristen that they’d leave the apartment at 6:30 and drive his car to the airport. He barely remembered her coming to bed with him, except for setting the alarm on his phone.
Anticipating that, at best, they were running late, he leaped up before he noticed Kristen wasn’t in the room any longer. The bed was empty. He picked up his phone and swiped the screen. The digits of the clock read 9:32. They’d missed their flight!
He couldn’t hear any sounds coming from the kitchen. He called out Kristen’s name, but there was no response. He was pulling on his trousers when he realized something was missing. He lifted his arm. The envelope with the Lotto ticket wasn’t attached to his ribs anymore. The corners had been snipped off to free it from the strips of sticky tape on his skin.
He went into a state of shocked denial. Kristen couldn’t be responsible! Then, bare-chested, he hurried out to the hallway. The bathroom lacked any sign that she’d showered. He headed on to the front door and out onto the porch, staying in the cool air only long enough to check that Kristen’s car had gone from the carport.
All the time, he was hoping against hope that she’d only taken the Lotto ticket as a joke. Hadn’t she teased that she’d find a way to make sure his winnings didn’t change him for the worse? He was sure she was only pranking him. But why had she made them miss their flight to Auckland? And where was she?
Once back in the living room, he checked his desk. The airline booking documents had been removed from the printer where he’d left them. He could no longer deny the growing evidence (circumstantial and unreal as it seemed) that Kristen might by now have used his Lotto ticket to defraud him of a million dollars.
He let the thought take hold. It was as bad as if he’d just heard that she’d cheated on him. He found himself collapsing in the nearest armchair and bending forward to try and breathe more easily.
There was only one way to remove any doubt about what her intentions had been. He looked up the number of the Lotto office in Auckland and then entered it on the iPhone keypad. To the person who answered, he lied that he was a reporter from The Wellingtonian and asked if the winning Lotto prize from the Saturday night draw had been claimed yet. He was told that it had.
His first thought was, ‘What if Kristen doesn’t come back?’ The money didn’t matter. It wasn’t what was causing his heartache. It was thinking that someone he loved, and whom he thought loved him, could steal the prize that was rightfully his.
He’d never hold her in his arms again. It was as if she’d been taken away by something as final as death.
___________
Adapted from the first 4 chapters of the novel “Losers & Winners” by Thomas W Devine (available from Amazon Books)
It began when he was sitting alone on a sofa in his living room. Leaning back, he stared in disbelief at the glowing TV screen and then at the rectangle of yellow paper in his hand.
He’d written down the winning numbers as one Lotto ball after another came to rest on-screen. He was sure he’d been accurate when recording the result and when subsequently comparing the notepad numbers to the numbers on the ticket. He’d underlined each one with increasing excitement.
He carefully re-checked, his heart in his throat. Then he leaped up with a whoop of delight. On the spot, he did an uncharacteristic jig of celebration; one he would never have done in public. Even now, he could hardly believe it. An instant fortune would never just drop in his lap; money had to be earned by hard slog. Only a lucky few got a windfall. Not that he’d necessarily won the whole million dollars. To find out, he’d have to wait for the confirmed results.
But even if he got half, it was more than he’d earn in ten years as a high school teacher.
Bursting to share his news (hoping he hadn’t miss-checked the ticket) he thought of phoning his girlfriend, Kristen. But she would be doing an evening shift at the hospital and had told him when they first started dating never to phone her at work unless it was a dire emergency. He could text her but he preferred to wait until he could tell her face to face. By that stage, he’d know the final results of the Lotto draw and be sure, one way or the other.
He said under his breath, “I never thought I’d see the day!” He knew that the win would become totally real only when he had the prize money in his bank account. The staggering sum of money would make him a millionaire – until he started spending and giving away.
When Ryan woke, the natural light in the bedroom seemed much brighter than it should have been. He’d agreed with Kristen that they’d leave the apartment at 6:30 and drive his car to the airport. He barely remembered her coming to bed with him, except for setting the alarm on his phone.
Anticipating that, at best, they were running late, he leaped up before he noticed Kristen wasn’t in the room any longer. The bed was empty. He picked up his phone and swiped the screen. The digits of the clock read 9:32. They’d missed their flight!
He couldn’t hear any sounds coming from the kitchen. He called out Kristen’s name, but there was no response. He was pulling on his trousers when he realized something was missing. He lifted his arm. The envelope with the Lotto ticket wasn’t attached to his ribs anymore. The corners had been snipped off to free it from the strips of sticky tape on his skin.
He went into a state of shocked denial. Kristen couldn’t be responsible! Then, bare-chested, he hurried out to the hallway. The bathroom lacked any sign that she’d showered. He headed on to the front door and out onto the porch, staying in the cool air only long enough to check that Kristen’s car had gone from the carport.
All the time, he was hoping against hope that she’d only taken the Lotto ticket as a joke. Hadn’t she teased that she’d find a way to make sure his winnings didn’t change him for the worse? He was sure she was only pranking him. But why had she made them miss their flight to Auckland? And where was she?
Once back in the living room, he checked his desk. The airline booking documents had been removed from the printer where he’d left them. He could no longer deny the growing evidence (circumstantial and unreal as it seemed) that Kristen might by now have used his Lotto ticket to defraud him of a million dollars.
He let the thought take hold. It was as bad as if he’d just heard that she’d cheated on him. He found himself collapsing in the nearest armchair and bending forward to try and breathe more easily.
There was only one way to remove any doubt about what her intentions had been. He looked up the number of the Lotto office in Auckland and then entered it on the iPhone keypad. To the person who answered, he lied that he was a reporter from The Wellingtonian and asked if the winning Lotto prize from the Saturday night draw had been claimed yet. He was told that it had.
His first thought was, ‘What if Kristen doesn’t come back?’ The money didn’t matter. It wasn’t what was causing his heartache. It was thinking that someone he loved, and whom he thought loved him, could steal the prize that was rightfully his.
He’d never hold her in his arms again. It was as if she’d been taken away by something as final as death.
___________
Adapted from the first 4 chapters of the novel “Losers & Winners” by Thomas W Devine (available from Amazon Books)
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