LOTTERY LITTER

My son Alex and I were on an early evening walk through our neighborhood when I happened to notice a lottery ticket laying in the gutter. I pointed it out to him. “Looks like someone got mad when it turned out to be a loser.”

Alex looked down. “How do you know it's a loser?” he asked. “Maybe they were on their way to cash it in when it blew out of their window?”

The ticket was several feet behind us when I stopped walking. “Are you kidding?”

“Nope.” he shook his head. “You never know.”

I looked back at the ticket as a puff of wind caught it and I watched it tumble further down the street. I looked back at Alex. “Why don't you run and get it and we'll check the numbers when we get home.”

Alex shrugged his shoulders. “It's not that important to me.”

“Are you kidding!” I couldn't believe my ears. “What if it really is a winner?” I cried.

“Just forget about it.” Alex said and began walking again.

The wind was taking it farther away from us. “Oh forget it!” I began jogging back. “I can't just forget about it!” I called over my shoulder.

When I reached the ticket it was folded in half but didn't seem to have any damage. I opened it up as I jogged back to Alex. “It's a Power ball.” I said holding it out to him.

Alex started to laugh. “I knew you couldn't pass it up.”

We began walking again as I slipped the ticket into my pocket. “What's that supposed to mean?”

“Oh, come on!” he was still laughing. “I know you! You'll stop and pick up a penny!”

I wasn't finding it as funny as he was. “Oh yeah?”

“The only question I had was how far you would let the wind take it before you couldn't stand it anymore and had to go get it!” Alex patted my arm. “We all know how you are about things like that.”

I still wasn't seeing the humor. “Okay...just for that if this ticket turns out to be a winner I'm not sharing the money with you!” I said feeling a little huffy.

Alex started to laugh harder. “Yes you will!” he cried. “You won't be able to help yourself!” I looked over to see him shaking his head. “You don't realize how well we know you.”

“Okay, fine.” I said as I patted the pocket with the ticket in it. “Just for that your Dad and I are going to go on a trip by ourselves and we're leave you and your brother home with frozen pizzas!” I was hoping he was feeling the sting of the punishment I'd just inflicted.

Alex laugh even harder. “And you're already spending the money!” He was laughing so hard he was shaking. “You and Dad crack me up! You always have vacation plans when you buy lottery tickets.”

We were at the end of our street, our walk was almost done. I patted my pocket again. “You'll see...it'll be frozen pizzas for you.”

We walked into the house and I called for Steven. “Guess what we found on our walk?” I called out.

Steven came out of the kitchen, wiping his hands on a kitchen towel. “What?”

“A lottery ticket!” I cried holding it out for him to see.

“Great!” he flipped the towel over his shoulder and took the ticket from me. “I'll go online to see if it's a winner.”

I realized I was holding my breath as he scrolled through his phone.

“Nope...it's a loser.” he said as he crumpled it up and handed it back to me.

My shoulders slumped as took the ticket back from him.

“Hey,” Alex said as he patted me on the shoulder. “Look on the bright side. You're keeping our neighborhood streets litter free.”