Lucky Numbers
Maxine had never bought a lottery ticket before.
Maxine had never bought a lottery ticket before. She didn’t even plan to, she was just at the corner store grabbing an ice cream when the cashier joked, “You need to wait, it’s $65 million tonight. Maybe it’s your turn. You pick lucky numbers.”
She shrugged, handed over twelve dollars, and forgot all about it… until the next morning when she saw the headline: $65 Million Jackpot Winner in Ontario. The winning numbers matched hers exactly.
Within hours, her quiet life began to unravel. People she barely knew wanted to “catch up.” Reporters camped outside her rental. And then came the first envelope, slid under her door, written in blocky black letters that belonged on the side of a train in New York City:
“We made you a winner. Now you owe us.”
Maxine didn’t know who “we” were or what she supposedly owed, but something told her the real game had just begun.
Written by Angela Fedele
Author’s Note
I’ve only ever played scratch tickets, usually gifts for birthdays, or ones I’ve bought for other people. I’ve never played the lottery like this, filling out numbers with no strategy, just luck. Tonight was my first time, and maybe my last. Something pulled me toward it, so I did it. Whatever happens, happens.
