1
Lucky let out a piercing scream, one the entire town was sure to hear. Her parents had named her after many failed attempts at parenthood. They thought the name would reflect her life, but so far it hadn’t held its promise. She had bought the lottery ticket as a joke to get a coworker to stop teasing her. She never thought that she would win anything, and if she did, maybe a few dollars or another lotto ticket. Never in her wildest dreams did she think the amount on the screen would be attainable one day. Her knees buckled beneath her and she held onto the counter next to her for support. All the men, women and children stared at her, even scruffy, the local mutt, looked at her with a questioning glare. She turned away from the television and looked at the diner’s customers, her customers, the people she knew since she was a child.
She was speechless for once in her life. She would finally be able to open that bed and breakfast she had dreamed about. How about that? When you least expect it, life deals you a really lucky hand. She jumped up and down like a deranged bunny rabbit, holding the ticket tightly in the palm of her hand. Gordon, her manager, walked up to her and waited impatiently for an explanation.
″What is all the screaming about young lady?″
She showed him the ticket, pointed to the television and laughed. Tears of happiness were falling rapidly down each cheek. She hugged him quickly, something he had always been against, ran to the door and turned to the customers.
″I love you all very much, but I am leaving Forks and moving on to bigger dreams.″
Gordon still didn’t understand what was going on. He was kind of slow that way.
″The first thing I’m gonna do with my winnings is give Gordon here a few bucks to fix this place up.″
She took off her apron, laid it neatly on a table and walked out. As she was walking away, she danced, sang and screamed again. This time, she wanted the whole world to hear it.
✈️
Lucky opened her eyes and looked around her. It was all a dream. Wasn’t it? Her eyes focused and she realized she really was in the plane. Her parents would have been so proud of her were they still a part of her life. They had moved on three years back, both of them dying within two weeks of each other. Her mother had lost her battle to cancer and she suspected her father died of a broken heart. If only they could see me now, she thought. One of the things they always taught her was to share. She would never keep the money for herself, she would help others along the way. She had no family left, but she could help her fellow humans.
The first person she helped was Gordon, he had never held a check for twenty thousand dollars before, so when she handed it to him, he almost fainted on the spot. She told him to use it as he pleased, he and his wife Pattie had never had a honeymoon, so she hoped he would do something about that unpleasant fact. She smiled at the memory of his stunned face. She opened the window panel and looked down. Blue, only blue and big fluffy white clouds. They were approaching a large cloud, went right into it and everything around them was white and hazy. She had never taken the plane, so everything was a new experience for her. It was amazing and overwhelming all at once. She was on her way to Sunflower Inn, her dreams were coming true.
✈️
The plane missed the landing strip and almost caused a massive accident. Lucky for them, a good luck charm in the form of a twenty-six year old woman was on board. They stopped a few hundred feet away, no one was injured. Life was good again once everyone was off the plane. She waited in line through customs, walked quickly to the taxi line with her luggage. She hadn’t put up her apartment in forks for rent yet, she wanted to be sure that Sunflower Inn was what she wanted. She would not settle for anything less than extraordinary, but she knew that the world was imperfect. She sure was lucky, but she was anything from perfect.
✈️
Jet looked down at his ma, touched her hand affectionately and handed her a mug filled with hot coffee. She smiled up at him through corn field colored eyes, the same as his own. He sat down next to her, with his own mug and opened the morning paper.
″Be careful, it’s hot.″
She pushed a strand of grey streaked hair away from her mouth and took a long sip.
″You’ve been telling your old ma to be careful for years now. I should be the one taking care of you.″
″You raised me and Duke on your own for over twenty years, it’s time we care a bit for you now.″
″Mind you, a little care from my boys makes me feel appreciated. Do carry on.″
Jet loved his ma more than he loved himself. She was a fighter, a true survivor, she had known many times of struggle. She had learned to push through all the hardship yet the one she was now facing was the hardest of all. She was having problems with her heart, something he had found so strange when the doctor had told him. His mother couldn’t possibly have heart problems, could she? She never stopped using her heart for loving, he hadn’t known any other love like her’s. How could the one thing she use the most be failing her? He looked up from his paper and smiled. She was beautiful, his ma, even in her advanced age. He wished he could have inherited the way she saw the world. She found the good in everything, even in his father leaving his wife with two little mouth’s to feed. He would never forgive his father for that.
