The Ritz

Helen opened the door as though she was entering the Ritz in London. The sun shined brightly behind her, blue sky with not a cloud to be seen. It was going to be a great day, her day.

She strode forward, her

shoulders back, chest out, chin up.

She was finally going to do

it, no matter what anyone thought, this day was hers.  She had spent her life being small, boring,

normal and she wouldn’t let it continue. 

Today she was going to achieve her dream and it was going help her start

the next chapter of her life.

She reached the till and looked the man directly in the eye, today was hers and no one could stand in her way.

"Helen, will it be the

usual?"

"...not today Mr

Khan"

She was that predictable,

every day the same thing, in the same shop, for years.  Well not today.

This little man in front of her held the key to her change and as soon as she had what she needed she would leave him behind, leave it all behind.

"What will it be

then?"

She looked at the man as

though he was a security guard at the front of a Monte Carlo Casino, and she

was the type of riff raff they wouldn’t allow in.

"Not today..." she

whispered under her breath

"What was that,

hen?"

She was beginning to feel her

dream slip away. She had been waiting for years to say these words and they

were slipping down into the pit of her stomach. 

Its had always been the same, in her head she was strong, confident and un-afraid.  The problem seemed to be between those

thoughts and her mouth something got mixed about and she always said or done

the opposite from what she had wanted to do.

NO HELEN, THIS IS YOUR DREAM.

"Can I have a number

eight scratch card please Mr Khan?"

"A number eight? That’s

a tenner for those ones, do you not want one of your normal two quid

ones?"

"No, number eight

please, the one that looks like the monopoly board"

He looked at her, his eyes

now suspicious. She had asked for tick in this shop before and he wasn’t going

to take the card out until he saw the money.

"Do you want anything

else?"

She opened her purse and

brought out the tenner. It was a fresh new one straight from the cash machine.

She had been keeping 50p aside for weeks now to get to this point. It meant

that she hadn’t been able to put as much money in the gas meter, but it had

been worth it to get here.

The man, seeing the fresh ten-pound

note, moved to rip off the card from the others. The noise it made sent a

shiver down her spine.

What was she doing? This was

a lot of money to her and her family, heating for a month, a nice dinner out

for all of them or even money towards a day trip doon the watter.

NO HELEN, THIS IS FOR YOU.

She slid the tenner over to

the man to stop the doubt that was flashing through her head.  She wanted to keep the confidence that had

been built up from the second she saw the ten-pound note come out of the cash

machine.

"Thank you, Mr Kahn,

just the scratch card"

He picked up the note and

held it up to the light. Not a care in the world about how rude he was being,

just wanting to check it was real before he gave her the card.

After what felt like hours,

he slid the card over to her and put the ten-pound note in his till.

It felt like a gold bar in her hands, she was shaking in anticipation. She had dreamed of this for years and she wanted to enjoy this moment for as long as she could, this final moment at the bottom of the ladder before she climbed her way up to be someone better. It was her time; she was going to win and big enough to turn her life round. She had read it time and again 'Up to £10,000 in prizes'. She was sure this would be her chance to give her kids something to be proud of.

Without saying another word, she started scratching right at the till. Didn’t care who was behind her waiting to be served. They could wait and watch her life change in front of their very eyes.

‘Monopoly Lotto Scratch Card.’

‘Three sections, three chances to win’

‘Section One - Match your

symbol to this symbol.’  She scratched away

at the box, smiling from ear to ear, eyes darting from corner to corner as the one

penny she had in her hand revealed her prize. 

Nothing matched her symbol.

‘Section Two - Your two

numbers should add up to 10 to win.’ She started to scratch box two, smile

still there but now it looked more like it was stapled on.  The back teeth starting to bite down on her

cheek. 

5 and 3 make 8, bugger.

Section Three - 'Find Mr

Moneybags to win the prize' The smile was now more of a deranged want.  She was breathing heavily through her teeth

and her eyes were fixed on the box as she scratched like a snake watching a

mouse.

First, she saw an iron, “still two chances” she said out loud

Then she uncovered a shoe “that’s ok, last one makes it a bigger win” she now shouted at herself.

Finally, she saw a hat and a mans face, this was it. She scratched faster, no longer just scratching the box but the whole ticket. She saw the rest of the figure and he was the jailer. “SHITE!” she screamed at the ticket.

She looked at it again,

scratched every part of the card. Double checking every section to make sure she

understood what she should be looking for. There must be a mistake, this couldn’t

be right, what had she done.

She looked at the man, tears

in her eyes, she tried to hold it together.

"Helen, are you

ok?"

Shoulders slumped, chest in,

chin down.

"Can I have a number

three Mr Khan?"

His regular smile returned;

he didn’t wait for her to get the money out this time.  No longer cared about the outburst he had

just witnessed.  He tore the card from

the strip and slid it straight to her.

She placed £2 on the counter,

felt boring, felt small, felt back to normal.

Normal Helen, normal life, normal.

She picked up the card and walked

towards the glass door.

The rain lashed down outside

now, grey skies as far as she could see, and she didn’t have a brolly.