The unlucky family wins some money

Crappy pasta was not the choice of the dinner for the night, but that was what the family had. It had been a rough year, with the business drying up almost entirely, the rent payments were becoming difficult now. The government came at the very last moment and provided with the relief, but just barely, only sufficient for them to not go under and not become homeless. Things could have been better, but for the moment they had a roof above their head, the many dozen cans of beans and tomato sauce, and the piles of boxes of pasta, all from the foodbank. They would make it through to see another year, when the business might see a rejuvenation.

It was not with much excitement or deliberation that the youngest child, thirteen years of age, scratched off the ticket. Gambling when you're on your last penny was not the wisest of financial decisions, they knew but what else was there to do, the money they had left was just sufficient for an emergency backup. The spare cash that had seemingly come from nowhere had to go towards entertainment expenses, and the lottery was the cheapest way to have fun. It would be disappointing eventually, but they'd get to dream, their sleep would be sound. Life is a gamble, they'd think, we lost this one, but surely there's one for us in the cards. The universe is not unfair, it doesn't want us dead, it doesn't care enough, whether we win or lose, and one day a big win will sneak by and it won't even notice. That was the motto they lived by.

Truth be told, they were not as shocked surprised or elated as they thought they would be. They didn't know the exact monetary value of the rewards, they didn't know if they were eligible to claim the prize. And perhaps there'd been some clerical error, that was how things had gone for them to the point, a win being snatched right from under their jaws. The father smiled, patted his son on the head and congratulated him for winning the award. he took the ticket, put it in his wallet and promised to go collect it the following morning. More money for the health emergency fund, he told them, so when you are very very sick, we won't have to beg or sell the cloth on our bodies, we'll still be able to get you medicine and good food.

The following morning the dad took a photo of the winning ticket, both sides, and went to the nearest big store. If it had been a big one, he didn't want to risk getting robbed by the storekeeper at the nearby grocery. He didn't trust those people, an acquaintance of his had been robbed that way, the thief escaped out of the country over a matter of days. FBI had put the man on the most-wanted list, but he was out of the country, nothing could be done, the winning prize was gone forever.

The cashier peeked at the piece of paper, scanned it, turned it around a couple of times, and handed it to him. She raised a finger, and told him she'd come back with the manager. Just a moment, she said as she smiled at him, I'll bring my manager to look at this, something seems up with the system. Soon there were two other members of staff in there, the supervisor and the store manager, finagling the system. They wanted to check his winning ticket too, shook their heads, never commenting on what the matter was.

After several more minutes of confusion, the seniormost manager came to him and shook his hands. Congratulations sir, it appears you won the $100 million dollar prize, we're informing the lawyers and other people so we may be able to expedite your claims. Please feel free to relax at the back office while our associates take care of your needs, she said, as she guided him to the staff-only area of the store. He was not sure if this was real. Better not risk it, he thought.