The Lotto Ticket

The sitting room had faded into the background and the flickering green and black screen of the 32-inch widescreen TV dominated her vision. Sister Margaret had bought it in Power City, a week after she moved into the semi-detached suburban home in Bray. The old convent, where she had lived and worked for thirty-five years had been sold to redevelopers and would be converted into luxury apartments at the foot of the Dublin Mountains. Sister Margaret loved watching television when she had the time. However within a week of moving in with Sisters Bernadette and Josephine, the tube in the ten-year-old Grundig had blown.

'You'd be better off buyin' a new telly' said the repairman from Power City explaining that the cost of labour and a new tube would be nearly the same price as a new 'wide screen '.

The poor Sales man must have had the patience of one of the saints that Sister Margaret regularly prayed to.
'I'd like to buy a television, son.' She said.

'Certainly Sister. What did you have in mind?' said the son, a twenty one year old man with a goatee beard and three earrings, indicative of his status as a full time student with a part time job.

'I'd like to see one of the new televisions advertised in last Sundays paper. I think they are called Widescreen TV's.' said Sister Margaret.

'Sure Sister. Em just over here. They're fantastic. These new ones have a 100 megahertz flat screen, which produces a lovely sharp picture. There are hundreds of channels and full Dolby surround sound, nicam stereo, remote control,..'

'It's not very good', interrupted Sister Margaret 'It seems to be broken'.

'Wha?' said the son.

'Look' she pointed, 'You cant see the top or bottom of the picture.'

'Oh! Yeah well that's the way it is with widescreens Sister, but you can press a button on your remote control to zoom in and out.'

'Why don't you watch the whole picture?' asked Sister Margaret.

'Huh? You do, but this one is like in the movies. You Know! Like at the start of the picture when you see the black surrounding the picture. and with the surround sound you'll never have to leave home'

'What's surround sound?' asked Sister Margaret.

'Wha?' said the son getting mildly frustrated that he couldn't finish his sales pitch.

'You said surround sound'

'Yeah' said the son.' It's eh, its amazing. You've got full Dolby and digital options and'. The son paused as he saw the vacant look on Sister Margaret's face. 'Here listen to this'. He turned up the volume.

'Does it get RTE?'

'Head banger', thought the son to himself. 'Yeah Sister. It gets RTE.'

'Does it come in black?'

'Black?' said the son a little exasperated.

'Yes. Black. I don't like the silver. Does it come in Black?'

'Eh no Sister. Black is out. Silver is the new black!'

'What's that?'

'Jaysus' the son mumbled 'That's a DVD'

'A DVD. And what does that do?'

'Its like a video recorder except it's a CD and it has better sound and vision quality'.

'Oh! So that doesn't come with the TV.'

'Eh No Sister. Will I order it for you?'

'Order what?'

'The TV'

'No need to order it son I'll take that one'

'You can't Sister. Its out of stock but I can order it and deliver to your home in a fortnight.'

Sister Margaret was staring in shock and trembling disbelief at Aertel page 150. It was 8.30pm. For the umpteenth time she compared her numbers with the pink slip of paper she had in her hand. She went through the numbers one at a time. 'Oh Jesus Mary and Joseph' she whispered again. Sister Margaret had never filled out a lotto ticket in her life. The paper slip in her hand was a gift from Mrs Downey, the young mother from next door. Sister Margaret had taken the day off to wait for the TV delivery man and she had promised that she would let the plumber in to fix Mrs Downey's dishwasher while she was at work.

'Where do you turn off the water mains Sister?' said the overweight plumber after she had let him into next door.

'Oh Gosh, I'm not sure, you see I am only doing Mrs Downey a favour.'

'Is tha' righ ? Well it could be under here somewhere' said the overweight plumber as he opened the bottom press beside the dishwasher.

'Ah! There we go'. He turned the mains off and pulled the dishwasher away from the wall to get access. He undid the locknut all the time talking to himself. 'Hmm, OK, I see there you go'. Suddenly the dishwasher exploded into life whipping the grey rubber hose from the plumbers grip and drenching him with water.

'FOR JAYSUS SAKE!' he roared as Sister Margaret switched off the electrical socket that she had just turned on a moment before

' I thought that was the switch for the kettle' she said innocently 'would you like a cup of tea?

The water was dripping from his soaked hair along his long red nose and splashing onto his saturated white shirt, which was now see through.

'That would be nice' he said.

The new television arrived shortly after Sister Margaret had said goodbye to the plumber and locked up Mrs Downey's house.

' It's a beauty Sister. Do you watch the football?' said the deliveryman.

' Yes indeed I do but I don't like that Manchester United crowd' she joked.

' Neither do I ' said the delivery man ' I bet you like the snooker though!'

'No, I prefer the wrestling' said Sister Margaret looking for a reaction. There was none and he was gone in a couple of minutes.

' No Thanks Sister, I have three more deliveries today and a cup of tea now will put me off my schedule. Cheerio Now'.

The two nuns that Sister Margaret shared the house with were teachers in the convent, and they held drama classes on Wednesday nights. Usually she would go down to the hall at nine to help clean up. But not tonight.

Mrs Downey had dropped in a card to say thank you and explained what a quick pick was. She also told Sister Margaret that the lotto draw was on at 8pm and that she could win £1 million euro.

' And what would I do with a million euro' said Sister Margaret

'Give half to me', laughed Mrs Downey as she left to return to her repaired dishwasher.

Sister Margaret checked her numbers for the fifteenth time. They matched. The screen confirmed that the jackpot was worth a million euros. There was only one winner. She found the bottle of Brandy that was used occasionally for celebrations and other times to comfort and support. Sister Margaret poured herself a full measure. She added two cubes of ice and the taste of it sent a shock wave from the back of her throat to the soles of her feet. She hadn't taken an alcoholic drink since she was sixteen. It was nice and warm and calming. She sat down in front of her winning numbers that were still flashing on the TV. 'What could I do with one million euro?' she asked herself. She took another mouthful from the glass of brandy that she held tightly in her hand. She slipped comfortably back into her chair feeling the alcohol rushing around her body and she closed her eyes and thought…

'Can I keep the money? Do I want to keep it? I've served my God well and worked day in day out for the convent girls and anyone else that needed me. The Civil Defence, St Vincent De Paul, Battered Women, Alcoholics Anonymous, The Simon Community, Bray Wanderers, raffle tickets, buy a line, sponsored fast, Trocaire. I've helped them all. I could help them even more with the lotto money.

A new bicycle. Ah! a lovely new bicycle to get me around Bray. I'd like one with gears that would help on the hills. There are a lot of hills in Bray. They'd ask me 'Where did yeh get the new bike Sister?' and I would tell them it was a present from GOD.

Mr O Sullivan, the maths teacher, had often joked that we would run away together if he ever got any money. Now I have money should I run away with him? He's still a bachelor and keeps fit by walking from Bray to Greystones every Saturday morning with his highland terrier, Brutus! Every Monday at morning tea break he tells me about his walk and although it sounds beautiful he has never changed his route over the last ten years. Or the time of his departure. I was tempted once a long time ago. He's a pleasant man but I have had pleasant and organised and responsible and sheltered and orderly and routine all my adult life and now I can change that. I quite like the handsome widower in my creative writing class and he does pay particular attention to me when I am talking. Maybe I'm just a curiosity to him. I could coax him with a holiday to Spain! I have been on holidays before but always with some pilgrim group that are visiting The Vatican or Lourdes. No I couldn't do that!

What about Mrs Downey? I could give her the ticket and tell her that on reflection I could not accept the gift and feign surprise when she barges into the house screaming at me that it's a winning ticket. But if I kept it I could repaint the promenade in Bray or build a set of steps up to the stone cross on Bray Head. I might buy one of the new luxury apartments in the converted convent. Maybe I could set aside money for the nuns' retirement home. Or should I give it all to charity!

By now, the brandy had infiltrated Sister Margaret and she could feel a dull sensation as it flowed around her tightening veins. She heard the doorbell ring but she could not get out of the chair. She knew that the person at the door was the TV deliveryman because he had forgotten his mobile phone. Sister Margaret had answered the phone she found lying on the coffee table. He said he was on the other side of Bray and would be around in half an hour. She told him she would leave the door on the latch and to come straight in as she wanted to watch something on the television.

Sister Margaret was now breathing heavily and the armchair clamped her paralysed limbs. Her brain was still working when the horrific realisation that the Brandy had poisoned her system hit her. She was diagnosed with a rare disease when she was sixteen. Alcohol would cause a chronic allergic reaction, which would cause her immune system to collapse, paralysis would set in within thirty minutes and finally after one hour the oxygen would cease flowing to her brain. Sister Margaret was so excited with her big win that for the first time in her life she had lost control.

She saw the deliveryman taking her ticket out of her hand.

'What a beauty ' he said as he checked the ticket with the lotto numbers flashing on the television he had installed earlier that afternoon.

Biography

Married with two kids. Tara and Ciaran ( 6 1/2 and 9 months). Married to Barbara. I work in the IT sector and am passionate about soccer, in particular Bohemians. I live in Ashbourne but support the Dubs !!