Winds of Change (standard:drama, 923 words)
Author: Randy Osbourne	Added: Aug 23 2006	Views/Reads: 3235/0	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
A man thinks that he had the best day of his life until he arrived home from work early and his discovery made it one of his worst.

Winds of change. 

It was the best day of his life and then without any warning, it quickly
turned into one of the worst.  What really got him was that there were 
no warning signs whatsoever that there was anything wrong. 

His day started out as it usually did. He awoke early on the Thursday
morning and showered and shaved for work.  For the past twelve years, 
he worked at a meat packing plant as a forklift driver.  He made a few 
friends at work and he was reasonably satisfied with his job.  The pay 
was good and there were excellent benefits, not to mention a good 
union.  So he believed that he was financially secure. 

He went downstairs and ate the breakfast that his wife had prepared for
them.  They were married for seven years and aside from a few bickers 
and quarrels they had, he believed that they were happy.  She worked 
from their home and they had no children.  He hoped that they would 
have at least one child later down the road. 

He kissed his wife goodbye and wished her a great day and then went out
and got into his car for the forty-minute drive to work.  As he drove, 
he listened to the radio and thought about what the weekend would have 
in store.  Friday night some of the guys always got together to play a 
few hands of poker. Saturday nights were for him and his wife.  He 
thought about skipping the poker night this week and suggest to his 
wife that they go up north to their cottage for the weekend. The 
weather was getting better and he was sure that she would agree with 
the idea.  He had no idea how much things were about to change. 

As soon as he arrived at work, three of his co-workers were waiting for
him.  He knew that something was up not by the happy look they wore on 
their faces, but they never waited for him to arrive at work before.  
He parked his car and went up to them to find out what was going on.  
He asked them what was up and Charlie answered. 

“We won Steve! WE WON! WE WON! WE WON!” 

For the past few years the four of them went in on lottery tickets. 
They never really expected to win more than a few dollars if that, but 
they could always hope and dream.  Last nights jackpot for it was forty 
million dollars.  They purchased a few extra tickets for the event.  
Their goal was to improve their chances at the big prize.  It was a 
gamble that worked in their favour. 

The four of them cheered and danced in the parking lot.  Each of them
was ten million dollars richer.  They then went straight to the lottery 
office that was downtown to collect their prize. They took a taxi since 
they were all too excited to drive.  After the winning ticket was 
confirmed, they received their checks. After the press took their 
photos and interviewed them, the four of them parted ways to let their 
families know about their sudden good fortune.  They agreed to meet 
later to really celebrate. 

After he deposited the check into his account and took out a few dollars
for himself, he took a cab straight home to share the great news with 
his wife.  When he arrived he went to her office where she would be at 
that time of day.  She was not there.  He then looked on the main floor 
for her and called her name.  He then decided to check upstairs.  When 
he was halfway, he heard some moans from their bedroom.  In fear that 
she might be in trouble, such as someone might have broken into their 
home, he dashed to the bedroom door and thrust it open. 

She was there on their bed and she was not in any sort of danger and she
was not alone.  There was a man with her, someone that he had never see 
before in his entire life.  They wore shocked looks at their faces as 
they realized that they had been discovered.  He just stood in the 
doorway and he had no idea what to do or say. One minute he was on top 
of the world, and the next his own world had been shattered into 
pieces.  He closed the door and went downstairs and left the house 
quietly. 

He later went to beach and sat on the rocks to be alone and think.  He
called his friends and informed them that he would not be joining them 
and that he would catch up with them tomorrow and explains why.   He 
held a bottle of whiskey that was a quarter of the way empty.  He did 
not feel any of the effects from the alcohol as of yet.  There was too 
much on his mind and a thousand thoughts raced in and out of his mind. 

He knew that the marriage was over and due to circumstances; there was a
very good chance that she would receive any of the prize money.  None 
of the mattered to him.  He would have gladly given up the money if he 
could erase the terrible image of what he saw that afternoon from his 
mind.  He knew that there was no way he could and he would have to live 
with it for the rest of his life.  So he sat there and drank and 
watched the sunset, his life changed forever. 

The End. 


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