It was a tuesday and Michael was just waking up and getting ready to go to work. After taking a shower and eating a quick breakfast, he grabbed his phone and wallet and was out the door. Michael worked quite a ways away and had to take the train to work, it was a long commute but the job paid well. When he arrived at the train station he bought his ticket and took his place on bench. While he was waiting a man approached him and asked if Michael could take his picture. Michael agreed and grabbed the man’s camera. The man walked past Michael and posed for the picture. Michael snapped the picture and then handed the camera back to the man. Michael was turning around when he heard the man say, “No, no, no this is no good, take it again”. Michael turned around and looked at the man, Michael was slightly annoyed but decided that he would take the picture again. The man walked back to where he was standing and posed again. Michael raised the camera and snapped another picture. The man walked back over and snatched the camera out of Michael’s hands. After a few button pushes and beeps from the camera, the man looked at the picture and seemed content. He turned to Michael, thanked him and then walked away. Michael turned around just in time for the train to pull into the station. He climbed aboard, set down his things and tried to take a quick nap.
Michael woke to the sound of screaming train horn. He looked up and saw the conductor walking down the aisle checking tickets. When the conductor approached him he handed her his ticket and checked his watch. Then the conductor said, “Sir, this isn’t a valid ticket”. Surprised, Michael asked for some clarification. “This ticket is for a different train”. Michael didn’t know what to say but the train was slowing down and the conductor walked away saying something MIchael didn’t understand. When the train did stop, the conductor came back with another man and led Michael off the train. Then they closed the door and the train headed off.
Michael looked around, he was confused and didn’t really know what to do. He checked his pocket, maybe he could call a cab or let his boss know he will be late. However upon inspection Michael found that his phone was dead. He checked his pockets, he had his phone and his wallet. He checked his wallet but it didn’t have much money in it, not enough to buy another train ticket. Not knowing what else to do Michael left the train station. Reflecting on what had happened Michael was met with a frightening realization. He was stranded in an unknown city without enough money to get home.
Michael wandered the streets for a while and entered a gas station. He bought some food with the small amount of money he had. After paying for the food he had a single dollar left and decided to buy a lottery ticket. He handed the clerk the dollar and he got his ticket. The man told him he could come back tomorrow to see if he had won. Michael exited the gas station and walked to the corner of the store. He ate his food and laid down to sleep on the cold hard ground.
Michael awoke around noon, and got up. He groggily walked into the gas station and walked up to the counter. He handed the clerk his ticket and hoped to at least get a few bucks out of this, enough to get a ticket back home. The clerk pauses and looks up at Michael. He says in an excited voice to him, “You won man!”. Michael was shocked but also ecstatic. He smiled wide and his eyes light up. He was given a small portion of what he had won there and told that he could take his ticket to a place in his hometown to collect the rest. He ran down to the train station as fast as he could and bought a ticket home.
When he arrived he ran all the way to his house, swung open the door and ran to his room. He leaped through the air and landed on his cozy bed. He was home, back to a place he thought he might never see again. Besides collecting the rest of his money, there was only one thing left to do. Michael called his boss and let him know he won’t be coming into work anymore.