Karma:

Blu_

Abandoned by her family, living off the street, falling pregnant, and getting herself arrested and thrown in to a half-way house, Blu's downward spiral came to a screeching halt when she was accepted in to foster care by a kindly volunteer named Pearl. The Registrar looked pitifully upon Blu as she departed, relieved that Pearl, despite her declining health, was as reliable as ever to adopt this frail and downtrodden girl. Arriving at her new home, Blu felt anxious. Her previous family hurt her so bad, she was left partially blind. But her new foster-mother seemed…different. Pearl spoke so softly, and she smelt like fresh biscuits.

Pearl unpacked the box that held Blu’s material soul, the few worldly items making for an eccentric collection of paraphernalia - a pillow, a grubby blanket, and Blu's doll from her baby-days… Blu watched Pearl’s blurred silhouette, entranced, when amongst her riffraff Pearl took hold of something small and black. It smelled unfamiliar; of luscious paper and of ink mixed with a subtle animalic perfume that Blu vaguely recognized from somewhere...

Pearl felt the soft pebbled leather of the notebooks’ cover with its buttery pages, when she sensed Blu’s straining eyes on her. Abruptly she stopped her prying, embarrassed at having been caught, although aware that her onlooker was partially blind. Pearl apologised, placing the little black notebook next to Blu and the picture of her dog, before limping away to start dinner.

Blu fumbled around for the notebook causing it to plummet to the floor and revealing a lottery ticket at its heart. The ticket held no meaning to Blu with her poor eyesight, but she sensed it was something important. Blu approached Pearl, placing the notebook with the lottery ticket in the warm hand of her newfound friend.

Pearl glossed over it, distracted by the evening news. Her eyes darted back when the hint of metallic paper glistened in the light. Pearl examined the card, gasping as it dawned on her that it was a winning lottery ticket. “Oh, my…” Pearl stammered. There was a growing tightness in her chest. She looked vacantly at Blu, at the winning ticket, and at the disintegrating finishes of her humble kitchen. The room swam in technicolor.

Pearl abruptly fell to the floor, gripped in the onset of a heart attack.

Paul_

In the middle of smoking his last joint, Paul received a text from his Aunt's irritable neighbour, advising him that his Aunt was not answering the door and that her dog would not shut up. Paul begrudgingly drives to Pearl's. He had nothing in his fridge anyway, and Pearl always had food. He was shocked by the scene that greeted him there, however:

Pearl looked dead, frothing at the mouth, and Blu was wailing desperately over the older lady. Try as Paul might, he could not calm Blu. She was likely the latest blow-in from his aunts’ fostering fetish and by far the grubbiest example he had ever seen. She probably murdered his aunt as well, Paul mused, but for what exactly he could not deduce; Pearl had nothing of value other than her house and even that was falling apart. Paul called an ambulance.

He let out an exasperated groan amidst his pacing, staring down at his dead relative incredulously. Something gleamed in her hand. Pinching his nose and holding his breath, Paul snaked around the older lady and took a little black notebook - encasing a shiny card - from her grip. He felt the wind knock out of his lungs,

“A hundred-thousand dollars!?” Paul exclaimed at Pearl’s lifeless body.

Blu was startled as Paul suddenly whooped and danced in sheer delight.

In that exhilarating moment when Paul took hold of the winning ticket, all his frustration at having to be the sucker that found his aunt deceased melted away. He felt even more contempt for Pearl and her frugal way of living, thinking of how wasted the money would have been had she lived to claim it anyway. As the paramedics wheeled his aunt’s lifeless body away, Paul was in a daze as the authorities questioned him. He could only salivate at the thought of the jackpot that awaited.

A hard gambler, Paul had carved himself so deep into debt that there seemed almost no reprieve. After a steady string of losses, he had finally been dealt with a winning hand. “About time old lady”, he muttered, spitefully to himself as he drove to the casino.

Pearl had been great to keep around. When he needed money the old lady gave, and never seemed to notice when her things went missing. With her dead, Paul could finally claim her house. He patted the pocket of his cardigan that safeguarded the little black notebook, with its wonderful little secret, and headed to the bar.

Drunk on his winning, Paul brandished the notebook in the card-dealers face obnoxiously as he sloshed his drink around, bragging about his imminent bounty. A nine-hundred-dollar loss later and Paul found himself stripped of his drug money and being escorted out by security. As he mouthed and gestured profanity from the curb, a young lady - clearly weathered, but nevertheless provocatively attractive - called out to him. “Cigarette?” she offered. Her name was Stella. As the pair talked, Paul felt his good fortune return. “Want to get out of here?” Stella asked, stubbing out her cigarette with an expensive stiletto. Paul could not believe his luck.

Pushing Stella in to the backseat of his car, Paul kisses her hungrily whilst Stella coyly removes his cardigan. She stops short suddenly, insisting he wear a prophylactic if he wants to claim his prize. Paul begrudgingly obliges - he was going to pilfer snacks from a convenience store that night anyway. At the store, Paul craftily slips the goods into his pants before returning to his car to find it empty.

Stella was gone, and so was his cardigan.

Stella_

The guy at the table was disgustingly sloppy, but he kept affirming that he was a millionaire and that was enough to pique Stella’s attention. She had a feeling that he might be worth getting to know.

Like a dandelion in the wind Stella floated around him and never lost sight. He flaunted something small and black at the croupier and boasted obnoxiously about being a lottery winner before proceeding to abuse the worker. Stella died a little inside, but knew he would have to do. It had been slow couple of nights. Stella followed the man as he was removed from the premises. She greeted him with her brightest smile, gained his trust with a cigarette, and made him feel like he was a million dollars.

And just like that, he fell into her trap. Now she ran, barefoot, having seized the little black book and its fantastic prize before disappearing into the obscurity of her concrete jungle. Stella tumbled into the mound that was her bed and fell asleep. She had been up for almost three days, working and partying hard.

“Babe, time to wake up,” urged the sweet voice of her lover Nadia, bringing Stella out from the depths.

“Get up Jen, you’ve been asleep for like two days,” Nadia scolded, “we’re taking Ollie for a walk.”

Stella groaned. Nadia was always doing such tedious activities. Stella - otherwise known as Jenny - walked like a zombie in a trance as they made their way through the park, whilst Ollie, Nadia’s dog, ran eagerly ahead. Jenny stuck her hand in to the pocket of the funky cardigan she woke up wearing and felt the rich pebbled leather and the buttery pages of the notebook inside. The night came rushing back to her, and she gripped Nadia’s hand excitedly. “Ow, Jen – that hurt?!” Nadia exclaimed at the unexpected sharpness of her girlfriend’s’ nails. “Oh my God, you will never believe what happened this weekend Di!” Jenny proclaimed, suddenly animated. Nadia looked at Jenny warily. She loved her girlfriend, accepting long ago that her profession was just like any other job. But the stories somehow never ceased to cause her discomfort.

Jenny paused. If she told Nadia about the lottery ticket, Nadia might expect that she share it with her. Or worse, make her do something boring - like save it or pay off her credit card. Jenny caught her girlfriends’ expectant gaze and laughed nervously, “the married guy - wife caught him again” she improvised. Nadia sighed whilst Jenny pulled her into an embrace, and the two girls frolicked in the grass.

But in her mind, all that Jenny could envision was her future shopping spree. So besotted was she in her daydream of new, shiny, pretty things that she did not notice the little black notebook edge more and more precariously out of the confines of the cardigan’s pocket, nor that Ollie – intrigued by the many new scents wafting off of Jenny’s cardigan – had locked his eyes on the black leather-bound, watching as it sidled out of out of Jenny’s pocket.

In a flash, the dog took it in his mouth and darted away.

Pearl_

On a nearby park bench, Pearl sat in wonderment. It was not every day that you could die and then live again to tell the tale. Blu sat resolutely beside her. The lottery ticket and the notebook, although she searched, were nowhere to be found; it had disappeared as mysteriously as it had come to be.

Ironically, it was her dishonest and self-serving nephew Paul that had been the one to save her, although she hadn't heard from him since that frightful night. It made sense that the notebook disappeared - like most of her belongings over the years - with Paul around. Pearl gazed at Blu, who had transformed into a beauty after a shower and a haircut. The nurses said Blu never once left her side.

Suddenly, Blu leapt up and made her way over to a dog playing nearby. They greeted each other sweetly, as if old friends, then Blu came awkwardly bounding back, wary of her pregnant belly. Pearl looked down as Blu placed something small and wet into her hands. She felt the rich pebbled leather, the chewed-up, yet buttery pages…and caught the glint of something silver hidden within…

“Blu…wait, how?” Pearl stammered, “oh you good girl, Blu!” she wept, cradling her rescue dog’s warm, lolloping head into her chest. The golden retriever wagged her tail in delight.

Carrying a litter of pups was very tiresome, but Pearl smelt so divinely pleased with her that Blu felt renewed.

Pearl saw two young lovers close by embracing on the grass. She smiled gratefully, so thankful to get to bear witness to the riches that is life once again.