"Here goes," he thought.
He walked to the back of the convenience store and began scribbling his numbers down on a piece of paper. He joined the twenty other people in line to reach the counter.
"LOTTERY TICKETS! EVERYONE STAND IN THIS LINE IF YOU HAVE LOTTERY TICKETS!," the clerk yelled.
Everyone who was standing in line shuffled to the right. Alex bumped into people in the process.
"Sorry," he mumbled.
After he got his ticket, Alex started up his car and began making his way back home. He began to think of all the things he would do if he won the $1.5 billion dollar jackpot. Alex was a poor college student and could think of plenty of ways he could spend the plentiful jackpot. He realized his chances were slim on winning the money, but he knew that he had a small possibility.
"Paying off all my loans would be nice...a new car too, maybe a nicer home for my family...," he thought.
After coming home, Alex sat down on the couch to watch the news. He knew that every news channel in Tucson would be announcing the winning numbers.
And here it was, 10 p.m. Alex frantically flipped over to Channel 5 News.
"And here are the numbers everyone has been waiting for," the female news anchor said.
"8, 12, 22, 36, 44, 19."
Alex glanced at his lottery ticket and then back at the screen again. He did a double take. Those were his numbers.
Was he going to tell his parents? They weren't home. He had to tell his parents. They were his parents.
Alex's heartbeat sped up. What was he going to do?
He immediately took off in his car and headed to the Arizona state capital. He didn't need to tell his parents. He could tell them later.
Shoot, Alex had so much money that he didn't need to ever return to college...or that's at least what he thought.
After claiming his jackpot prize, he immediately blew the money on a mansion in Florida, on a brand new Audi, and invited the coolest people in Miami over for parties every night at his new pad. He was like the Jay Gatsby of Miami. Everyone loved him.
Even after blowing his money on his expensive new taste, Alex was sure that he would still have enough money leftover. Or so he thought.
One brisk morning after a night of partying, Alex walked into the kitchen of his new bachelor pad.
Various rooms of the mansion were filthy. They were trashed with bottle of alcohol, glasses, and trash.
Alex's butler approached him.
"Sir, the electricity and water bills." He gave Alex two envelopes.
Alex tore open the white envelope and began glancing at the sheets of paper.
$15,000.
"Sir, I'm afraid you don't have enough money in your bank account to cover this," the butler said.
"What do you mean I don't have enough money to cover this?! I always have enough money," Alex yelled.
"Sir, I am sorry but I'm afraid you don't."
"What are they going to do? Kick me out of my own house?," Alex yelled.
"Suit yourself," his butler said as he left the house.
The butler never returned.
Alex did end up getting kicked out of his house and was forced to beg for money on the streets of Miami for the rest of his life. His parents didn't want anything to do with him because he foolishly spent all of his money and didn't share any of his fortune with them. He spent his winnings on himself first and others second. And because of his poor life choices, Alex ended up dying a very poor man.
(Avarice (2012), by Jesus Solana Source: Wikimedia Commons)
Author's Note: I based my story off of the Aesop fable, The Goose With the Golden Eggs. In the original fable a man's goose keeps laying golden eggs, and one day he decides to kill the goose and slice it open but doesn't find anything inside. I thought it would be fun to put a twist on the original fable by relating it to this year's world record-breaking jackpot. Most jackpot winners usually blow through their money very quickly and end up broke. I thought my story was very similar to the original fable but set in modern times.
Hi Caitlin! First of all, I love the background of your blog. I really like how unique it is and how much purple is on your page. I love the color purple so the color scheme really works for me. The only suggestion I have for your web formatting is to either include more photos or move the photo up so that it breaks up the story some. I think it helps make the page look more dynamic this way rather than just a stream of words! For your story, I really liked how you took the fable and made it relatable to the current day. This is something I've been striving to do as well. I wonder what would have happened to Alex should he have been smarter with his money? I wonder if there were any jobs that would have hired him, or if begging on the streets were his only option? Overall, really good story and I'll definitely be coming back to your blog to read some more of your work!
ReplyDeleteHi Caitlin, I loved your story about how greed can be a major downfall. I also read this story from Aesop's, and think your transformation of it was very creative, especially with the recent buzz over the lottery. I think your story also has a very clear message, like the Aesop's fables do. It is a great modernization of an old story! I would love to hear more from you!
ReplyDeleteHey Caitlin! I loved this story! What a creative way to depict the original theme from the Aesop's Fable! The modern day setting made the story intriguing to read, and also it seemed very appropriate due to all the talk and drama about the powerball. I wonder what else Alex spent his winnings on besides massive parties at his mansion, maybe a match, private jet, 10 new sports, or 5 other vacation homes. Who knows what someone like Alex in real life would do if they had that much money all of the sudden! I would certainly save it all and give it to my family members and friends who actually needed the money. Maybe donate a large portion to a charity that I think would benefit from it. I also love your blog title and background. It is so intriguing and makes me want to read more and more of your content and satires! And purple is my favorite color so obviously it is appealing to the eye! Great story, loved it!!
ReplyDeleteI loved your story! It's awesome that it's so relevant to today, since the lottery was so high before school started. I thought that he was maybe going to save the money, but he blew it on everything, which was a nice twist. I haven't read any of Aesop's fables yet, but your modernization of the story definitely made me want to!
ReplyDeleteHi Caitlin!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your modern take on this classic Aesop tale! I think a lot of people (including me!) have been dreaming about how perfect life would be in they won the lottery. The way that you put this fable's lesson into that perspective is a great reminder that money does not cure character! I especially enjoy how you highlighted the emphasized elements of your story by using bolded font. It created great imagery while reading -- almost like an aside to the audience in a play! Also, you use quotations so well in your writing. They felt very natural and were integrated in a way that I felt like, as a reader, I was hearing this story being recounted by a friend!