Well isn't this RICH

The air was cool but she could still feel the bead of sweat roll down her back. She'd been sitting in her piece of shit car for the past 30 minutes waiting on the tow truck driver. Deciding he was going to let her melt in that damned car she walked across the street and took refuge in the library. It smelled like dust and paper inside but she wasn't going to get heatstroke in there so she nodded to the librarian and started walking the isles of books looking for something to pass the time.

The building was huge with book after book lining the walls and shelves. Fiction. Poetry. Non-fiction. Folklore. Now that's interesting she thought to herself. Running her fingertips across the spines of the books as she glanced at the titles. Her fingers and eyes stopped on one. It had a leather jacket that was worn with age, smooth and supple from the oils on people's hands. In gold letters stamped on the spine, it read R-I-C-H. That's all it said. Sliding it out of its space she looked at the cover. There was only this weird symbol embossed into the leather. She fingered the ridges of its design. Walking over to one of the large oak tables by a window she opened the first page. Blank. The second page, blank. Third, fourth, all were blank. Well, that's not a very interesting book. She flipped the pages scanning them all. She saw the black ink and stopped on the page. Near the end of the book was a quote that read. "Just because something is unbelievable does not mean you shouldn't believe it. Put another way, some things are worth believing in whether they're true or not." ~Jeb Dickerson under the script was a series of numbers. 9-11-27-35-50 and that's it. That's all that was in the book. It was weird because the pages were so thumbed over that they were worn like the book had been read over and over again. What's the quote mean? She pondered. Have belief, don't doubt? She thought of her life and her shitty circumstances. She was certainly starting to doubt the trajectory of her life. She'd always been a dreamer but disappointment after disappointment was starting to wear her down. What if these were the winning lottery numbers? Flashed into her head. She just smiled and nodded her head at the absurdity of it and the dumb book she was looking at. She felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. She got a text that the tow truck guy was outside. Finally! She thought. She was so late to work already. She dug out her ancient library card and checked out the book sliding it into her big purse or dumpster as she so lovingly referred to it.

The heat instantly made her sweat when she stepped onto the sidewalk. The tow truck guy was looking under the hood when she walked up next to him. He smelled bad. Like B.O. mixed with motor oil. Little beads of sweat dripping off his long straggly hair. The front of his shirt was soaked thru and his fingernails were lined with black. You could tell this man worked. He told her it was a loose battery cable. He said no charge and headed for his truck. She pulled out a couple dollars from her purse and tried giving them to him. She knew it wasn't much but it was all she had. This was going to be the second shift she'd missed at work this week because of this damned piece of shit she drove but she couldn't afford a new one. She felt so stuck. He turned around and said, "why don't you go over there and buy a lottery ticket? If you win, then you can tip me." With that, he climbed into the truck, waved, and pulled away.

She stood squinting at the little convenience store across the way. In the big front window were a bunch of signs, advertising beverages, and food and lottery tickets. According to the flashing neon sign the jackpot was up to $220 million dollars. What the hell she thought. What else was she going to do with those two dollars? Crossing the street she started feeling a bubble of excitement. What if? I mean what if I did win? NO, I can't win something like that. Then "Just because something is unbelievable does not mean you shouldn't believe it. Put another way, some things are worth believing in whether they're true or not." popped into her head. Walking up to the register a pimply-faced teenager looked up at her. "Yeah?" Guessing that was him asking her what she wanted she recited "9-11-27-35-50" Handing her the ticket he went back to burying his head in his phone. "Thanks, for the winning ticket!" she said smiling.

The car started and she just went home. There was only an hour left for her shift so what was the point. Besides she was going to be a millionaire tomorrow and she wouldn't have to work at that damned diner anymore. Pulling up to her apartment she looked around. It was fine. Safe at least, but she'd always dreamed of a house by the beach and this stupid town was so far from the beach it took two days to get to one. There was something about the ocean that made the heat tolerable. Even welcome.

Walking into her apartment she put dumpster on the counter and grabbed a beer. She rifled through the bag until she felt the book. It was so soft against her fingers. Crossing the room she sat in her big comfy chair. The thing was so cute at one time but it had gotten a little ratty over the years. Between her and Sasha her asshole cat it had seen better days. It was the most comfortable thing she owned so it was not going anywhere any time soon. She took a swig of her beer and opened the book. She saw the quote and numbers again but then flipping through she noticed something she didn't see in the library. Each page had a story imprinted on them. You just couldn't see them. It's like they were just imprints from an empty pen. Holding the pages just so she could read what was written. Each page told someone's dreams and desires. Wants, no needs. Her favorite pen ran out of ink last week. It was still in the bottom of the wastebasket. Finding a page without a dream imprinted on it she began to write. Her dreams spilling onto the page. Only she couldn't see them on the page but she was able to draw them in her mind. They were crystal clear in her mind. Suddenly she started to believe in them. Wholeheartedly believed in them. Just knew they would be.

9-11-27-35-50 she stared at the screen. She stared at the ticket in her hand. 9-11-27-35-50 they were the same. Life-changing moments don't happen often but they do when you believe.

She packed up her belongings that were sentimental and stopped by the mechanic's shop on her way to the airport. There was a tip for her to leave. She had a beach waiting.