Dreams Do Come True

Scratching and more scratching

It's 5.30 AM. My alarm goes off. I sigh. Getting up this early during summer break can not be healthy. I turn off my alarm and slowly sit up straight on the edge of my bed. I rub my eyes and stretch my arms out. I yawn. My lips are a bit dry and my eyes are having trouble to stay open. I stare into the darkness across the room. After a minute or two, I get the power to stand up and open the curtains. The sun is just coming up and the clouds are pink. Very lovely. I slowly walk towards my closet and take my work outfit. A light green t-shirt with a big purple logo of the store on it. Hideous. A pair of black pants and a big sweater to wear on my bike.
As I get dressed, I think about absolutely nothing. I yawn. I may be awake, but my mind definitely isn't.
I go downstairs and eat some breakfast. I yawn. I grab an apple and head out. It's cold outside. And very quiet. I love it. There's no car to be seen. The only thing I hear is my music playing through my headphones.
After a 25 minute drive, I arrive at the grocery store. Instead of going in through the main entrance, I go around the back and enter the building through a little sneaky door. I yawn again.
'Goodmorning Anna', my coworker says as he sees me.
'Goodmorning Lewis', I mumble, still barely awake.
I walk into my little office and see a thousand papers laying on the floor. My jaw drops.
'What happened!?', I ask Lewis.
He peeks around the corner into my office and says:'Oh yeah. About that. You're going to have to clean that up before Mary arrives.' Mary is my boss. She is very strict and does not like it when things are messy.
Lewis walks off, leaving me alone. As usual. Because I'm just a student, everyone makes me do all the annoying tasks. Like cleaning up someone else's mess.
I get down on my knees and start collecting all of the papers. Receipts and orders, but also doodles and notes. When I'm done picking everything up, I start organizing. I put the orders in a binder, throw away the doodles.. I even complete the to-do lists. After 2 hours of doing this, I sit down and sigh. I deserve some rest. And just then, I can hear someone approaching. High heels. Walks quite fast.. It's Mary. She walks in and says:' Sitting down again? Do you really have nothing else to do? I doubt it. You should sweep the floor.' And she walks away.
'Goodmorning to you too Mary. Nice to see you again', I mumble to myself. I feel like Cinderella. Always cleaning up someone else's mess. Never time to rest. Only working. Just like Rihanna said:'work work work work work work'
I spin my chair around and notice a little piece of colorful paper in the corner on the floor. I bend over and pick it up. It's a bit dirty but I can still read what it says.
'Lottery ticket. Scratch and win $1,000,000'
No way. It hasn't been scratched yet. I look at the date. Purchased on the 9th of July.
That was yesterday! I don't hesitate for one second and I take a coin out of my back pocket.
Okay, I need 3 smiley faces to win. I start scratching.
One smiley face. No way.
I scratch again.
Two smiley faces. NO WAY.
My heart is beating fast and I feel super nervous. I scratch the last one.
Sad face. I'm instantly disappointed. I feel stupid. Why would I win that? $1,000,000. I would never be lucky enough to win something like that. I sigh.
I hate my life.

6 hours later

I'm done working for today. I'm so ready for the weekend! I walk through the store and see a big sign above a cardboard display.
'SCRATCH AND WIN $1,000,000'
I sigh.
'Why not give it a try?', a familiar voice says.
I turn around and see John standing behind me.
'What are you doing here?', I exclaim, excited to see him again.
'I go grocery shoppin' from time-t- time too, ya know? So why not give it a try? Buy a ticket. Ya neva know what'll happen.'
'I tried it before. I found one this morning.'
'That doesn't count! Ya have to buy it yourself!'
I hesitate. 'Alright. One ticket.'
We walk towards the display and I take a ticket. I don't think about it too much because I know the chances of winning this, are one in a million. We pay for the ticket and go outside. I take a coin out of my back pocket but John stops me. 'Don't do it here. This ain't yo lucky place. Ya have to do it somewhere ya feel save and happy.'
'Like.. on the bridge?'
'Exactly!'
'Alright. Let's go there.'
I take my bike and walk to the bridge with John, Becky and Stacy.
When we arrive I sit down. I let my legs hang over edge, as usually, and I take out the ticket. John takes his 'friends' with him, under the bridge and unpacks his groceries.
I stare at the water. I feel.. save. Wich is weird, considering the fact I only need one push to fall down. I reach into my back pocket and feel a key. It's my key to Mason's house. I realize that key means much more to me than a random coin. I decide to use that to scratch the ticket.
I take a deep breath and start scratching.
One smiley face.
Two smiley faces.
I stop. I prepare myself for a sad face. I'm convinced that it'll be a sad face. I'm tempted to just throw the ticket into the water, while I still can.
I hesitate.
I scratch the last one.