Choose Your Own Life, page 90

 

You head on over to the small corner store where you originally purchased your winning lottery ticket. You stroll in with a confident gait and a grin on your face. The patrons of the store cheer when they see you come in. You head up to the counter and are greeted by a portly man named Steve.

“I’m here for my lottery winnings!” you say, handing over your ticket.

Steve gives you a big smile. “Of course!” he says, pulling two duffel bags from behind the counter. “One hundred sixty-five million dollars coming right up!”

He hands you the bags and you do an excited little dance. Everyone around you applauds. You thank everyone profusely and head out the door.

“Now don’t spend that all in one place!” Steve jokes. Everyone laughs.

You toss the bags into the backseat of your car, still chuckling. You hop into the driver seat and speed away. Off to the bank with you! You drive along the road, humming along to Sheryl Crow hour on the radio. You head onto the bridge to cross the river. Suddenly, about halfway across you get a strange feeling. You slow down and pull over onto the shoulder.

You get out of your car and open up the back door, pulling the bags out of the car. You open them up. It’s all there, all right. One hundred sixty-five million dollars cold, hard cash. A cool breeze blows across you.

You gather the bags and walk over to the railing of the bridge. You peer over, into the dark water far below. You feel different than you ever have. You feel relaxed, as if a knot in your stomach you had never noticed before has suddenly been untied. You hoist the bags up, resting them on the railing. You pause. Shouldn’t there be some thinking here? Aren’t there options to consider? These thoughts are pushed from your mind until there is nothing there at all.

With a small push, you tilt the bags forward. Slowly at first, then finally tipping completely, the bags tumble off the edge. You watch your money, your one hundred and sixty-five million dollars, fall downward, spilling into the water below. You watch it get swept away.

You turn around and lean against the railing. Something shifts, and you feel yourself knot up again, aware of it now. Suddenly you are sick to your stomach. What the hell just happened?! Why did you do that?! You just threw away a hundred and sixty-five million dollars! What were you thinking?!

Something is very wrong here. Something you can’t quite put your finger on. You feel a cold shiver run through your body. It was like you were on autopilot. Like you had no control of yourself.

 

Maybe you don’t. Turn to page 224.