The winner!

I stood riveted to the floor. The numbers 22, 13, 05, and 08 were my numbers. as I waited for the final white number to roll down the ball track my whole body hummed with anticipation. As the number appeared on the screen my heart nearly stopped. It was 29, my final selection. I had won a million dollars! As The red Powerball number rolled down the track I felt as though I would pass out! My life was about to change but the red Powerball number finally appeared on the screen and it was of course a 19! I had won the whole 1 billion dollar jackpot!
Now you would think that I would be jumping for joy but I stood in the middle of that room frozen on that spot like an icicle stuck to a roof!

“What’s wrong?” Jackie said, “You look like you are about to be sick all over the floor!”
I could not speak so I held out my ticket for her to inspect. I had been choosing the same numbers for 10 years. Sure I had gotten a number or two right here or there but never in a million years did I imagine that I would win the whole jackpot! Jackie took my ticket and looked at me confused.

“They all match,” I said in a whisper!
“All six of them,” she asked in return
“Yes," I said quietly.

All around me the people buzzed in the little diner where we worked. They were waiting for their orders and when the bell chimed to my table Jackie handed me back the ticket.

“You go take care of this right now! I got this here,”
“Are you sure?" I asked my best friend.
“Yes I am sure, it is not too busy. I have handled it alone when it was much worse than this! Go! I will be fine,” she reassured me.

I walked to the office and gathered my belongings. When I went out the door of the diner and headed down the street to the convenience store where I always bought my Powerball ticket I was still feeling slightly faint. The world around me was spinning as the bell chimed over the door of the 7-11. I walked to the counter and stood patiently while Jake helped a customer in front of me.
“Hello Mandy, what brings you in so early tonight?” Jake asked joyously.
“Did you watch the Powerball drawing?” I asked.
“”Nah, people have a better chance of getting hit by a Mack truck than winning that thing!” Jake replied.
“Well,” I said, holding out the ticket. “I guess I better be careful crossing the street then! “ Check my numbers!”
Jake took the ticket and started to punch them into the machine one number at a time. The surprise on his face as he realized that all of the numbers matched mirrored my own.
“Mandy, you are a billionaire,” he said, looking at me with shock.
“Not yet,” I replied. “I am still waiting to wake up from this dream. What do I do next?”
“Sign this ticket before someone else gets a hold of it. Make copies and keep this safe.” He said. “Anyone can steal your ticket if you don’t sign it.”
He handed me the ticket with a blue ink pen. I signed it and looked at him.
“Ok you are registered in the system as the winner. Now someone will contact you about the settlement. Keep that ticket safe.” He said quietly as he leaned forward towards me.


Jackie looked at me as I handed her the keys to the house behind mine. I had bought three houses on this acreage and had decided that I wanted my best friend to live in one. Now we could pursue our dreams. I wanted to stay home, write and create art. Jackie just wanted to own a novelty shop with eclectic décor. We could both go to college now and get the education we had always wanted. I could have done this on my own but Jackie had been my best friend since first grade and I couldn't imagine doing any of this without her. I moved my mother into the third house on my property and knew that she would now be safe in a cozy cottage redesigned just for her with a private live-in nurse. No more squalid rental properties and landlords who didn't care if there was mold in the closet. No more threats of packed nursing homes.

The stables between the houses were filled with prize race horses and a barn manager who would train them and take them to races in my name. Everything I had ever dreamed was possible.

The next stop was the college. Jackie and I went and signed up. I took writing and art classes. Jackie chose business classes.

“I never thought we would make it here.” Jackie said to me. “It seemed like a pipe dream”
“Good thing I never listened to all the naysayers telling me not to spend my money on the Powerball tickets. I never thought I would win but I thought the five dollars a week was worth the chance to win.”
“Yeah it is a good thing you followed your instinct Mandy.”
“Yes it is,” I replied. “Tomorrow is the first day of the rest of our lives.”
“Yup,” I said in return. “Classes start tomorrow.”