America's Favorite Lottery WinnerChapter One

Chapter One

Saturday was a sunny one in the midst of a passing summer as the evening hours approached. The time ticked by as changes in the lives of many seemed to be inevitable. It would seem time stopped for nobody in this whirlwind of a universe.

A small tree grew nearby Maplefields gas station and it's shadow spread out in the late afternoon sun. A stray green leaf blew from the tree into the wispy wind and landed upon the asphalt pavement while a young woman passed it by nearly landing on it with her pink flip flops and open toe handmade socks. The socks were a purple color that seemed to match her pale purple top. She was also wearing a simple black knit pencil skirt. Her long red hair was tied back with a pink kerchief and her face was a pale cream color dotted with a gathering of small freckles. Her eyes were sapphire blue.

Around her neck was a black gothic choker necklace that appeared to have the wiccan symbol on it. In her hands she grasped a small black clutch firmly. She walked past the leaf and then the gas pumps. A single car was parked and a man had entered the store.

Shannon Everly kept walking past the car and seemed to be on a mission. She had left her beat up red Ford in the driveway as Maplefields was within walking distance from her apartment. She decided she could use the exercise today. Yesterday it had been a rainy day so she drove instead.

Not that she was fat as she was rather slender, but not deathly skinny like one of the models packed into the pages of a Vogue magazine or In Style. She had old issues of In Style collecting dust on her coffee table and figured she should perhaps donate them to the nearby library.

Shannon approached the door and pulled on the black handle. She glanced casually at the signs on the door and walked past. An elderly man was walking out with a bag filled with Wise chips and a pack of Camel cigarettes. Shannon could smell that awful smokiness on him and quickly passed him. She could just tell he must be a constant smoker. To each his own. If he wanted to kill his body let him.

Shannon walked past a few aisles and then stopped at the small deli section filled with good food for people who didn't want to bother with cooking. That was Shannon today. She waited a few minutes deciding what she wanted for her supper. She soon decided on the ham wrapped tortilla for $4.99. But then she hesitated and almost grabbed a pasta salad instead that was only $2.79.

She put down the wrap and looked at the prices of the salad. There was another one for a little over three dollars. Had to have a little extra in it for the higher price. Then she decided to pick up the wrap again. She hated to make decisions sometimes. She let her wishy washy moment subside and then went away. She grabbed a peanut butter flavored power bar and got to the checkout.

She waited in line behind a tall woman. The woman was paying for a coffee with the change she had saved. She set the pink cup on the counter and handed the change to the cashier. Shannon waited patiently for her turn

The woman in front of her had on a beige sweater and a pair of pink sweatpants. She turned around and smiled at Shannon. She had short blond hair and was missing a front tooth. "My fourth cup of coffee." Said the woman to Shannon.

"I stop at two." She said to the woman as she walked out of the store.

Shannon tried not to stare at her tooth and set her items on the counter. She looked at the cashier and then waited for her to ring up the items with the scanner. The cashier had brown hair that was wrapped tightly back into a ponytail. She was wearing a navy blue polo shirt and her name tag read Lucy. After a minute she told Shannon how much she owed.