666
one
I stared at the cash register as others past me buy. I fixed my eyes on the seven letter word that was pasted in front of me. LOTTERY. How I needed that money. My bloodshot eyes gazed upon the sign that claimed to give away over a million dollars.
Without taking my eyes off of the sign, I reached slowly into my pocket. I pulled out two bucks, and threw them on the counter.
“Pick three numbers, sir.” The man at the cash register told me. I gave him a dumb look, trying to think of numbers.
“Uh, random pick I guess,” I said without consulting the numbers for too long. He printed out a crisp piece of paper and handed it to me, kindly. I grabbed it, gave a small smile, and ventured out into the city streets.
As I walked down the road, I looked down at the paper that looked as if it was painted with gloss. The light from the summer sun shined on it, which made it hard to read. I struggled to read the three numbers printed below the familiar word, “lottery” again, flashing in my face.
666.
“That’s weird,” I said to myself. Three of the same numbers in a row weren’t usually something that happened often. I sighed and continued walking home to my run-down apartment. I unlocked the door, revealing clothes filling the floor and cleaned off a place on the couch. I clicked the answering machine button and sat back to listen.
“You have 2 new messages,” the machine said. “First message:” I waited, and heard I young woman’s voice on the other end.
“Hey James, just checking up on you. I miss you, let’s get together this week. I’m just hanging out with Steph today, but I’m free tonight. Tell me what’s going on. Call me back. Love you,” I heard a beep.
“End of message.”
That was Avril, my girlfriend. She called everyday to check up on me, making sure I was all right. My life isn’t exactly what you’d call perfect. I was found on a door step and brought into a adoption center. Classic right? Well, I never was actually adopted, so when it came time for school, the place had to pay for me, I got a job when I was 14 and never actually cared about the real world. Of course, until I was 19. That was the year I realized, I had no where to go. I was a horrible student, and never set a goal for anything. Now, I rented a run down apartment, and had a crappy job at a factory that paid only a little.
“Second Message:” the machine said, startling me. “Hey uh, Jimmy boy. It’s that time of month again. I pinned up your bill on the door if you didn’t see it. You still haven’t paid me last month’s rent either. What’s up with you?” THAT was the owner. I had forgotten it was the twentieth today. Every twentieth of the month, he collected the rent. I must’ve missed the note on the door. With that, I sat off the couch and opened the door. A black shadow past the old carpeted floor, out in the hallway. It was a black cat.
“Come on cat, I already have enough bad luck.” I moaned, grabbing the little white paper that hung taped on the wall. Not too expensive, but I was still tight on money. I threw the paper on the side table and checked my watch. Six o’ clock. The lottery drawings would be happening any minute now. I ran over to the couch I sat at before, and quickly turned on the TV to channel 2.
Commercials. I waited patiently, until a young woman appeared on the screen.
“It’s time for the pick three drawings.” She announced. I pulled out my lottery ticket, even though it was hard to forget the constant three numbers that appeared on the paper. I gripped it tight, hoping for a miracle.
“The first ball up…”
Without taking my eyes off of the sign, I reached slowly into my pocket. I pulled out two bucks, and threw them on the counter.
“Pick three numbers, sir.” The man at the cash register told me. I gave him a dumb look, trying to think of numbers.
“Uh, random pick I guess,” I said without consulting the numbers for too long. He printed out a crisp piece of paper and handed it to me, kindly. I grabbed it, gave a small smile, and ventured out into the city streets.
As I walked down the road, I looked down at the paper that looked as if it was painted with gloss. The light from the summer sun shined on it, which made it hard to read. I struggled to read the three numbers printed below the familiar word, “lottery” again, flashing in my face.
666.
“That’s weird,” I said to myself. Three of the same numbers in a row weren’t usually something that happened often. I sighed and continued walking home to my run-down apartment. I unlocked the door, revealing clothes filling the floor and cleaned off a place on the couch. I clicked the answering machine button and sat back to listen.
“You have 2 new messages,” the machine said. “First message:” I waited, and heard I young woman’s voice on the other end.
“Hey James, just checking up on you. I miss you, let’s get together this week. I’m just hanging out with Steph today, but I’m free tonight. Tell me what’s going on. Call me back. Love you,” I heard a beep.
“End of message.”
That was Avril, my girlfriend. She called everyday to check up on me, making sure I was all right. My life isn’t exactly what you’d call perfect. I was found on a door step and brought into a adoption center. Classic right? Well, I never was actually adopted, so when it came time for school, the place had to pay for me, I got a job when I was 14 and never actually cared about the real world. Of course, until I was 19. That was the year I realized, I had no where to go. I was a horrible student, and never set a goal for anything. Now, I rented a run down apartment, and had a crappy job at a factory that paid only a little.
“Second Message:” the machine said, startling me. “Hey uh, Jimmy boy. It’s that time of month again. I pinned up your bill on the door if you didn’t see it. You still haven’t paid me last month’s rent either. What’s up with you?” THAT was the owner. I had forgotten it was the twentieth today. Every twentieth of the month, he collected the rent. I must’ve missed the note on the door. With that, I sat off the couch and opened the door. A black shadow past the old carpeted floor, out in the hallway. It was a black cat.
“Come on cat, I already have enough bad luck.” I moaned, grabbing the little white paper that hung taped on the wall. Not too expensive, but I was still tight on money. I threw the paper on the side table and checked my watch. Six o’ clock. The lottery drawings would be happening any minute now. I ran over to the couch I sat at before, and quickly turned on the TV to channel 2.
Commercials. I waited patiently, until a young woman appeared on the screen.
“It’s time for the pick three drawings.” She announced. I pulled out my lottery ticket, even though it was hard to forget the constant three numbers that appeared on the paper. I gripped it tight, hoping for a miracle.
“The first ball up…”