A Pretty Good Idea

I thought of a good idea for a short story. A hard luck son-of-a-bitch plays the same lottery numbers every week for his entire miserable life. He starts playing the numbers in his late teens and the story begins in his mid-fifties. His wife has just left him and his kids won’t talk to him because he’s a pathetic, bitter old man. He looks twenty years older than he is. A stressful, terrifying life of mediocrity. He has nothing to show for his hard work except a tiny apartment and a bunch of bills piling up on his kitchen table. One day he decides to walk to the corner store like he does every week to play his lottery numbers. On his way he sees a shiny object out of the corner of his eye. He investigates and sees a brand new, shiny penny. He bends over to pick up the penny and feels a stabbing pain in his lower back. He realizes that he has thrown his back out. He hobbles back to his apartment, takes a few painkillers and lays his weary bones on the couch. He watches some TV and passes out. The next day he instinctively grabs the paper as it comes through his mail slot and checks the lottery numbers. His numbers jump off the page like a shot of pure adrenaline followed by a sickening feeling that washes over his entire body. He pukes. He pukes again. He didn’t play his numbers the day before because he threw his back out. He threw his back out bending down to pick up a penny. A shiny fucking penny. Twenty million dollars that should have been his. He pukes again. All because of a goddamn penny. It was so fucking SHINY.
Well, I started out telling you about the idea for a story and practically wrote the whole thing. Anyways, I’ll leave it up to you to write the ending.

For those of you wondering why I haven't been posting very often it's because of a novel I'm writing. A timeless epic romance novel entitled "DON'T YOU FUCKING LIE TO ME!"

joke