Michael Hemenway

Beth's Big Move

Beth parks the car in the garage, hits the garage door button and bursts excitedly through the garage access door. “Honey, you’ll never believe what just happened! Never in a million years!” George gets up from his easy chair and approaches Beth. “OK, OK, calm down a bit. Wow, something’s got you all..” “I just won $20,000!! Look at this scratch-off card!” Her husband replies, “you bought scratch-off cards?! Why? We both know those things are for idio…” “Just please look at this!" George skeptically examines the card. “My God, Beth, you’re right!! It looks like a winning lottery card!” Beth exclaims, “I never win anything! This is so strange!” The two start hugging and hopping up and down and dancing on the kitchen floor. Then, George’s brain immediately kicks into overdrive. “Let’s take a trip! Or, no! A new car! The old pickup has over 200,000 miles on it. Maybe this is a sign. Maybe it’s time. What are your thoughts? What do you want to do with it?!” How to spend it hadn’t really crossed Beth’s mind; she was still basking in the glow of having actually won something. How should they spend it? A vacation? New car? Give it to their boys? “Well…I really don’t know yet. Can I think about it?” “Yeah, of course! Let it sink in, we’ll redeem the card at the regional lottery center, and we can both start thinking about our options.” “OK, that sounds good! Thanks, hon.” The rest of the day was carefree, quiet and restful.