“Now let’s take a short break from the news and find out the winning numbers to this week’s Powerball”. I immediately shove my hand into my pocket, feeling around for my ticket. Once I realise that it is in my wallet, I flip it open and search through the cards, receipts, and other lottery tickets shoved messily into my wallet. Finally, I take the ticket thinking to myself that maybe this week will finally be my week. I am optimistic yet also hopeless seeming as I have bought hundreds of tickets before but never won a dime. I direct my attention back to the T.V.  when I hear the voice of Manny Marciano.
“Hello, I’m Manny Marciano, today is Wednesday, December fourteenth, and we are about to draw the numbers to this week’s Powerball of $727 million. The first number is five, followed by nine, which is followed by sixteen and then seventeen, which is followed by twenty-four with the mega number being forty three. If these are your numbers, congratulations, you have just become a multi-millionaire. Now back to the news”. I look up from my lottery ticket and back to the TV in disbelief, rereading the numbers to make sure that I am not hallucinating.
“5-9-16-17-24-43.” I quietly say to myself as I collapse into my couch, “I won”. It takes a while to sink in that I have just won, one of the biggest lotteries in history, and once it does, I have no clue what on earth to do first. Hundreds of thoughts run through my head at once, “Should I call my bank? Should I call a financial advisor? Where do I even go to collect the money or show that I have a winning ticket?” I immediately pull out my phone, go onto google, and search “What do you do if you win the lottery”. Several articles pop up ranging from “Top 10 Things to Buy If You Win the Lottery” to “How to Spend Your Lottery Winnings Wisely”. I read none of them, and I finally decide that it’s safest to just drive down to the 7-11 that I bought my ticket from and go from there, but I make a rash decision and tell myself, “No, call your devil of a boss Jerry right now, and tell him you quit”. I grab my phone, dial Jerry’s number and wait for him to pick up.
“Hey, Cam” says Jerry in his obnoxious voice, “Ima need you to come in around 12 today because Lisa has to le-”. I cut him off .
“No Jerry, actually, you’re going to need to find somebody else to work those extra hours, because I quit.” I end the call triumphantly, wishing it was 2007 and I had a flip phone to slam. The adrenalin I get from quitting the worst job I have ever had only makes me more excited, but also more reckless. I make another impetuous decision as I leave my house, hop into my 2004 civic that I’ve always hated, and drive down to the Bugatti dealership located nearly an hour away. “What a turn of events” I think to myself still in disbelief. “Before, I probably couldn’t even afford to waste the gas to get down to this dealership, but now I’m about to buy a car from it.” Once I arrive, step out of my car and walk towards the doors as I get glares from the other people because of my civic. I enter the dealership and tell the person manning the desk that I’d like to purchase a new car. Within fifteen quick minutes I’m walking out the doors to my brand new, all black, $2 million 2015 Bugatti Veyron. With my old job’s salary, it would take me a near a hundred years to pay off the car loan, and even then, car insurance and gas would be impossible to afford.  However, once I collect my lottery money, all that will change. I slide into my brand new car and am on my way to that blessed 7-11. I arrive at the 7-11 with my joy and anticipation building up and walk in with an unnecessary amount of confidence. “Hi, I won the $727 million Powerball, and I got my ticket from here. Here’s the ticket to prove it” I say as I hand the man the most valuable piece of paper in the world. “No way, congratulations” he says while reading the ticket to confirm that they are in fact the winning numbers.
“So first I’m gonna need to-”. He comes to a stop.
“Wait what’s wrong?” I ask apprehensively.
“Sorry man, but this ticket says 2/14/16”.
“So what’s the problem?”
“The problem is, today is December fourteenth, two-thousand sixteen, not February fourteenth. Sorry, but you didn’t win.” I snatch the ticket out of his hand, praying that he’s made a mistake or that he’s just kidding, but he isn’t. The ticket reads 2/14/16. In a panic, I grabb my phone, and call Jerry hoping he’ll have some mercy on me, and at the same time I also have a newfound appreciation for my 2004 Toyota civic.