When I got back to my desk, there were several notes left on the keyboard of my computer. I sifted through them and tossed three of them in the trash. I turned my computer back on and started to finish up the project I had been working on before I left. I lost myself in the work until I realized that it was dark outside and time for me to leave.

On my way home, there was a large billboard that showed the lottery jackpot. I usually didn’t buy a ticket until it was up over one hundred million. The glowing numbers read three hundred and seventy five million dollars; it was the biggest jackpot in the country so far. Play for entertainment only, not for investment purposes. I smiled and randomly fantasized about what I could do with all that money. I always played the same numbers, the ones that most people use like their birthdays and other favorite numbers.

My thoughts turned to dinner and I tried to remember what was in the freezer that I could pull out and cook quickly. It had been a long day and I was tired. I pulled up in front of my apartment and after stuffing my purse into my backpack; I grabbed the bags and locked up the car. I shuffled through my keys and unlocked my front door. I turned on the television and went into the kitchen to make something to eat. After I finished, I flipped open my busted laptop and checked my email. Chatting with a few friends, I was only half listening to the news when the lottery drawing was going on. When I looked back to the screen across the room, the numbers were across the bottom, and they all looked familiar to me. I looked on the coffee table for a pencil to write them down before a commercial came on. Scribbling quickly, I jumped up to get my purse out of the backpack on the floor.

My heart started pounding and I read the numbers on my ticket and the ones I had written on the empty envelope on the table. My stomach almost turned when I saw how they all matched up. I looked at the clock; it was just after eleven thirty. I knew I wasn’t going to get any kind of sleep tonight. My brain had gone blank. I shook my head and did a breathing exercise I had learned to do when I was upset. It helped and I picked up both papers again. I was still in disbelief as I compared the numbers over and over. They didn’t change. I set them back down on the table. I would have to call in to work tomorrow morning so I could drive the fifty miles to the lottery offices in the state capital.

Picking up the lottery receipt I went into my bedroom to the altar on my dresser. I set the ticket carefully up against my goddess statue and lit the quarter candles. It would be safe there. I took down a spiral notebook from my bookshelf and started to write. I had to make a list and figure out what I was going to do from now on.