Little black notebook - short story

‘Just going to run in and get some lunch’ Dave pointed to a shop as we pulled into a parking space out front.

‘Oh yeah, I’ll come in too’

We both climbed out the van and piled into the shop. We bee lined straight for the food fridge and chose what we wanted and joined the queue; as I was called over by the next available till, my eye caught the scratch cards. I hardly ever buy one but today something was telling me too get a number 4 and to get it now.

‘Can I please get a number 4?’

“Of course, your total is £6.15’ I paid and climbed back in the van to wait for Dave. I put my bag down and searched my pockets for a 2p coin, I then started searching around Dave’s van and found a 1p on the floor under my seat and eagerly scratched it.

Did you win fella?’ Dave asked as he got in the driver’s seat.

‘Nah’ I shook my head at him and shoved in my pocket.

‘Ahhh better luck next time’

Little did he know I had actually just won £20,000. I tried to hide my excitement as I wanted my mum to be the first to know so we could plan what we should do with it; when I knew I was on my own when we got back on the jobsite, I hid it in my wallet. I had so many ideas of what I wanted to buy with it but things I didn’t need, I tried to put it to the back of my mind while I got on with the afternoon but every 15 minutes I checked my wallet to make sure it hadn’t fallen out.

The end of my day could not have come sooner, saying goodbye to the lads on site to jump in my car and tell my mum.

‘Mum, I’m home’ I shouted as I stepped in the door, I was greeted as always by Max our dog, so I sat on the floor with him for a minute and shared the love’

‘You are going to be covered in dog hair’ mum exclaimed from the kitchen

‘I have fresh clothes for tomorrow, it's okay’ as I got licked on the face ‘Mum, guess what’

‘What’

‘I won on a scratch card today, guess how much’

‘A Pound’ she laughed at her own joke ‘it would just be our luck’

‘I won Twenty K’ but I heard no noise from the kitchen ‘Mum? You still in there?’

‘Are you joking?’ She popped her head round the door frame at me on the floor

‘No, I’m serious. I put it in my wallet to keep it safe but I’m not even sure on how to claim it’

I jumped up from the floor and tried to get Max’s fur off of me, I walked into the kitchen while pulling the scratch card out of my wallet and I hand it to my mum. ‘See’

‘Wow, you really have! What are you going to do with it?’

‘I don’t know, do you need anything?’

‘Nooooo, it’s your money, you spend it’

‘Well, I was thinking of doing things with it, like drop loads of food off for the homeless or pay for the shopping of someone who needs it and do good with it’

‘Awwww yeah, let’s make a list of what you can do with it’

My mum walks past me into the living room and picks up a little black notebook ‘This can be your good deeds notebook; we can keep track of how much you have spent and how much you have left’