Winnings

I ran into the kitchen when I heard Sarah start screaming. She was usually pretty quiet so for her to be screaming so loudly was unusual. 

“What? What? What’s happening?” I asked barely able to get any words out at all. Sarah was hopping around the kitchen, still screaming. 

“I won! I won! I won!” Sarah held out the envelope and letter to me as she continued to dance in circles. 

I quickly scanned the letter only to see it telling Sarah she had won $500,000. Won from some corporation I had never heard of before. 

“Did you enter into some kind of contest or something? I’ve never heard of this corporation before.” I tried to sound optimistic and helpful because I didn’t want to rain on Sarah’s parade. If anyone needed a little extra luck, it was Sarah. She had had a tough year – a tough couple of years – and could use something a little extra. I just hoped this was something real and not a joke. 

“Who cares? I won $500,000! I can finally live! I can start my own company. Finally!” Sarah continued to dance around my kitchen. 

“Have you ever heard of this company before? What they do? Where they are located?” I didn’t want to sound suspicious, but I couldn’t help it. I had reservations about the one person who needed a boost suddenly wins that kind of money out of the blue. If only I had known the spiral this one letter would send Sarah into, I would have torn it up and thrown it into the fire right then. As it was, Sarah didn’t listen to anything I ever had to say, sent all her personal information to this unknown company that would end up ruining her life. Forever.