Saturday 6 February 2010

Jackpot

E-mail from the National Lottery: "We have some exciting news about the ticket that you bought for the Friday 05 February draw. Please click here and and enter your username and password to view the details online now."

I hovered my finger over the word 'here' on my shiny new iPhone. But suddenly I stopped myself from tapping the tempting hyperlink. I was on a train. What if I'd won the ACTUAL £113 million Euromillions jackpot?? I simply wouldn't be able to contain my hysteria if I'd won squillions of quid. So I didn't tap the hyperlink. I put my iPhone away and got lost in my thoughts for the remainder of the journey.

I could pay off my mortgage, I thought to myself. I could pay for all of my cousins to go through university. I could buy my parents the country home of their dreams, and a funky pad in London so they could come and hang out with me whenever they wanted. I could BUY BRISTOL ROVERS!! I could give loads away to charity. I could buy a loft apartment in New York and a place big enough in London to house a drum kit. And a recording studio! I could get Teletext up and running again for my Grampy, even if it was only in his home. I could give life-changing amounts of money to all of my family and closest friends.

I walked home from the train station a little faster than normal, my keys poised in my hands a long time before I got to my front door. Switched on laptop. Logged into Lottery account.

"Congratulations - you've won £19.50!"

And you know what? I felt strangely relieved.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Are you planning to splash them at the Minigolf?
I passed by a couple of times and it was so inviting, unfortunately had no time.