March 10, 2021

“Ticket number 049005 please come to the stage to claim your prize! Again could we have the person with ticket number 049005!”

I laughed to myself watching as people began looking under their seats, and the empty seats next to them for the winning ticket.

“Too cool for school are we?,” the party goer next to me asked as she ruffled her skirt up a bit getting on her knees checking the ticket number under her seat before checking under my seat.

“It’s not a matter of being ‘too cool for school’ the chances of someone winning these things are almost sl-

“Did he say 0-4-9-0-0-5?!.” she interrupted as she looked at me then back under my seat holding the ticket.

“Ha ha ha, good one! Look, I’m not falling for th-” before I knew it I was reading those numbers on a “Keep this Coupon” ticket. She handed me my ticket congratulating me and cheering me on. In that moment everything slowed down, the cheers became faint, the vision of the ticket before my eyes became a blur as my eyes focused on the $20,00.00 banner that dropped down on stage. The host smiled extending her arm out in my direction, waiving for me to come on stage. Nervously I started walking up to the stage stuck between being ecstatic and in a state of shock, flashes of how I would spend the $20k started to invade my mind. I started smiling at what seemed like a superbowl commercial played on my television of a mind before I heard “Congratulations on winning our prize of $20,000! What’s your name?!” In that moment reality hit!

“SYD! Oh my gosh! My name and Syd and I..I..I JUST WON 20K BABY!!!!!” Jumping up and down clapping my hands together as everyone cheered me on. “I was not expecting this at all!” Looking out at the audience covering my eyes from the beaming lights, “WOOO! I can’t see the person who was sitting next to me but thank you so much! Wherever you are I definitely owe you!”

A few pictures were taken on stage of me holding my “golden ticket” before I was escorted to the back to go over the paperwork.

“Would you like the $20k in cash, a check or loaded on a prepaid debit card? Each option has it pro’s and cons and comes with stipulations.”

Listening to him, but also toning him out as my mind wondered. “Shooting $5k of 1’s out of a cash cannon sounds like fun..going to the bank with a $20k check seems safe, but what if the bank crashes?! I could also lose a debit card soooo.”

“I’ll take the debit card please and thank you!”

“One of the best choices since there is always that papertrail,” he said before turning to the side speaking through his headset “she’ll be taking the gift in the payment method of a debit card.” Shortly after that another one of the organization members came out with the card on top of a small black book and handed it to me.

“Congratulations, and don’t spend it all at once, she said jokingly. “Security will be escorting you to your car if you drove or we could have one of our drivers drop you off at your destination.”

I took the card placing it in the inside pocket of my suit jacket while dropping the book inside my bag. “For sure, I carpooled so yeah that would be appreciated.” Turning towards them again smiling, holding my hands together bowing a bit, “you all are truly a blessing, thank you again.”

The streetlights glared against the slippery pavement like dripping paint, once the doors unlocked I got in after the driver opened the door sitting in the backseat. I felt like a hole was burning through my pocket against my chest, the driver seemed standoffish so I didn’t say anything to him but my mind was bouncing around like a racquetball in an empty room. Before I knew it we were pulling up to my apartment, I got out, thanked him and went upstairs. As soon as I got in the house, I was greeted by my furry feline. “Guess won big at the party Mahi!,” I said to him as he rubbed against my leg before I picked him up walking over to the couch sitting in front of it. Laying my head back on the couch I sighed, smiling a bit before emptying my bag, as the small black book fell out.. *Hmph* “This must be about the organization, weird flex but I went to this party out on a limb so I thought it was cool to read up about it. However, this small book didn’t have anything about the party or the group who threw it, instead it had instructions. The first page had “Spend your Money Wisely” hand written in a black marker. The next page basically stated the obvious: I could spend the $20k as I please in which I intend to or I could help families in need. While I thought about donating a couple of thousands to a charity, I have other plans. I want to pay off my rent for the next five months which would be roughly around $7.5k, spring is coming so def need a new wardrobe that’s another $3.5k which puts me at $11k. $1k to charity so now I’m at $12,000, I want to invest, take a couple of trips and send some money to my mum. This consumed my mind most of the night until I finally fell asleep.

I woke up the next morning feeling rejuvenated! I showered, ate, fed Mahi and started planning my first trip. In April I’ll be going to Ghana for twenty days which totaled to $7k, yes I did get a first class seat..gotta treat yourself right?

As I booked my trip, Mahi hopped on the table placing his little paw on my hand. If disappointment had a face it would have been his..

“Don’t look at me like that, I deserve this! I said laughing. He could be such a parent at times.

I got ready and went to the leasing office and paid my rent up for five months, which left me with $12.5k. All I heard playing in my head was “Happy” by Pharrell Williams, my mind was at ease knowing I didn’t have to pay rent for a few months. For some reason I took the little black book with me to read up on the families during downtime (usually in Uber). I shopped the “Magnificent Mile” a bit before I headed back home to be greeted by a Mahi. As soon as he saw the amount of bags, he yawned walking away as if I blew his money. Little did he know I got him things too. Excited to show off my threads I facetimed my mum to show her a few of my fits, before it got too late.

Sitting in front of the couch, once again I was drawn to this book. Opening it up reading about the families again. One family needed $10k to put towards their child's healthcare needs. Another family needed a down payment of $2k for an apartment which would further be covered by government assistance for the year. A brother and sister needed help paying for their mothers hospital stay and bills which would have pretty much taken the rest of the money but made her conditions peaceful and helped them financially. I set the book down wishing I could do more but it’s only so much one person could do. I laid my head back on the couch closing my eyes, “that was kind of heavy” I thought.

Waking up, still dressed in my clothes from the party I look up at my digital clock showing the date and time 03/11/21 1:15pm. I stretched out a bit as Mahi stretched out pushing the open book closer to me before he climbed over my legs resting between them. I looked down at him, smiling a bit as I picked up the small black book and turned the pages until I was reading the contact information for the first family. I grab my phone laughing a bit “what a dream.”

I was cleaning up around the house when my phone rang, not recognizing the number I picked up in a stern voice.

“Hello”

“Hi Syd, this is Lawrence from the party you attended March 10, 2021. We would like to thank you for participating in our ‘Spend your Money Wisely and Lend a Help’n Hand’ program. We kept track of your transactions and see you helped the three families in the small black book we gave you. Since you denoted your $20,000 to those families we will be giving you $50,000 to spend on yourself. No small book included this time, but we do want you to spend your money wisely as well as help those in need.”

I read that email at least 10 times before I heard a knock at the door, getting up I walked to the door asking “who is it?”

“Special delivery from ‘Spend your Money Wisely and Lend a Help’n Hand.’”

I opened the door and stood there in shock as the driver from that night handed me a black suitcase.

“Congratulations, from Lawrence and the Foundation.”