The Scratchcard

It was the end of another day. A day of simply going through the motions. Roger finds himself waking up, going to work and then off home again. A rinse and repeat type of routine. Excitement was hard to come by or rather afford. Providing for his family gave him little time to himself and as much as Roger loved them, he needed a little alone time before heading home today. He decided to take a detour through town, to take in the sights as it were, despite there not being too much to see. He hoped that something, anything at all interesting would happen, to liven up his day.

While driving through the small streets in town, Roger looked at all the different people going about their business and wondered if they were as frustrated as he was about their mundane existence or if they were simply oblivious to it. When he saw a smartly dressed looking man step straight into dogshit and not even flinch, Roger knew his question was answered right there and then. Granted, it did make him laugh a little. With a sigh of disappointment however, he was all set to turn onto the next street and head home but as he turned, his eye caught the sign of a store.

‘Old and Cheap’ it read, as Roger slowed down in front of what appeared to be a thrift-store. ‘Charming’, he thought sarcastically. Roger was about to drive on when instead he parked his car and without really knowing ‘why’, he stepped into the store.

The bell on the door was still jingling as it shut behind him. Roger stood there for a moment confused as to why he was in there at all. He soon noticed a balding man with a grey unkempt beard looking at him, graying eyebrows raised. Seeing as he was the only other living soul in the store, Roger figured that he must be the owner and so he simply nodded at him.

The store was small, dust filled the air and seemed to just smell of the old books that were scattered everywhere. There was no semblance of organization to this place at all. Things were either piled up on the floor or whatever surface was available. It looked more like a yard-sale, or the home of a hoarder, than a proper store. Despite having no real reason for being there and the lack of interest in anything the store had to offer, Roger found himself browsing.

Roger had gone through a layer of items and blankets of dust and yet he perused further. It wasn’t until a loud cough coming from the owner, breaking the silence, that Roger seemed to realize how pointless this had all been. He stopped what he was doing and hastened towards the door but before he could reach it, a firm hand grasped his shoulder.

Roger turned his head to find the owner with his graying eyebrows frowning at him. He then noticed the owner’s gaze lower to Roger’s hand. He looked down to see that his hand was holding a small black notebook.

Roger was now back in his car, still in somewhat of a daze and trying to wrap his head around exactly what had just happened. He leaned back in his seat and sighed deeply. He proceeded to start the car when he noticed the black notebook placed neatly on the passenger’s seat. He stared at it for a while before leaning over to pick it up.

It was simply a small black notebook and not much larger than a checkbook. As he held it in his hand, Roger noticed that the binding was made out of leather and moving it closer to his face, it definitely smelled like it. As he began to open it to see if anything was written in it, something fell out from between the pages onto Roger’s lap. He looked down to find what appeared to be a scratchcard.

Upon picking it up Roger immediately noticed that it had already been used or rather scratched. He was about to put ‘it’ and the notebook away when he could not believe his eyes. It was a winning scratchcard! And not just any winning scratchcard but one worth twenty-thousand dollars! Was this really true?! Could he be this lucky?!

Roger could hardly contain his excitement but quickly realized that he needed to reel it in. There were so many unanswered questions and the biggest one was if it was still valid. He turned the card over and at the same time pulled out his phone as he looked for anything to be able to check its validity.

It did not take long before Roger found himself stunned again. It was still valid! So much was going on through Roger’s head. What he and his family could do with this money. They could redo the kitchen, put it into his daughter’s college fund or simply take his wife out to a nice dinner. So many ideas and so many possibilities.

As Roger set off home to tell his family, he was suddenly reminded of the drive that got him to this point and found himself entertaining the thought of not telling his family, at least not right away. He could indulge himself for a bit, after all they had no idea. He could simply celebrate with his friends for a night and just allow himself a moment. No one would be the wiser and no harm would be done.

A month had passed since Roger received the check of twenty-thousand dollars and he had still not told his family. He had convinced himself that it would be okay for him to enjoy the money on his own for a while and constantly reminded himself that; what they did not know, could not hurt them. What Roger failed to realize is that money does not last and even after only one month of indulging himself, there was only so much left.

Roger was on his way home from work the next day and he had finally decided to tell his family or rather share what was left. As guilty as he was feeling for not coming out sooner, he was convinced that they would be happy and that he did not need to tell them the full story.

As he opened the front door to his house, he was surprised to see his wife waiting there for him. He noticed that she was upset and had been crying. Before he could say anything, his wife started screaming and shouting. Roger had no idea what was going and had a difficult time understanding his wife through the yelling and cursing she directed at him. She went on for what felt like hours as he stood there in the doorway trying to make sense of it all when he suddenly noticed what his wife was holding in her hand.

Time seemed to slow down as Roger watched the small black notebook going along with his wife’s movements as she was cursing him with her whole body. It seemed to mock him. Roger did not understand why she had it or why it even mattered. He had not seen that notebook since the day he found the scratchcard in it.

Suddenly Roger found himself shoved outside and before he was able to react, something hit his chest as his wife had slammed the door shut. He heard her collapse into tears on the other side of the door but as he moved towards it, he stepped on something.

Roger looked down to find the small black notebook on the ground. He picked it up and looked at it curiously. He was still wondering why his wife was holding it, why it mattered and why it now scared him. He opened it and noticed that the pages had writing on them. He saw what looked like lists of purchases. He was not sure what to make of it but as he looked closer it suddenly hit him.

Roger dropped the notebook as he stepped back in horror unable to understand how this could be. He stared at it in disbelief as it lay open on the ground with its pages revealing his secret, revealing his lie.