chapter 1, book 2

Chapter 1


Christopher Smith was an average white American, and he hated it. He was of a very average 5'9", a very average 165 pounds, with dark blonde hair and blue eyes. Buthis averageness only started there. He grew up in an average town, attended a very average high school, and had graduated with average grades. He had played football and basketball, buy was just average enough to stay on the team. The list continued on throughout his days in college, where he earned an average degree in health sciences, and found that it landed him an extremely average job. It was on an extremely average April day that his life changed, and soon thereafter, he would want nothing more than to just be average.

On that mid-April morning, he rose from his bed at the first sound of his alarm and started his day the same way that he always did. Shower, get dressed, bowl of Lucky Charms and out the door at 6:45. He climbed into his Corolla, drove the 8 minutes to work, and clocked in at 6:58. The company that employed him also employed about 150 other people, but he probably didn't know the names of 20 of them. Not that they would know his name, either. The only time they even talked to him was when they had a problem that he could fix. He mostly sat at his desk feeling nearly invisible, watching the clock until it was time to go home.

At 3:30, he gathered his things, shut off his computer, and headed back out the door. As he left the parking lot, Chris noticed that the light in his dashboard indicating that he needed gas flashed on at him. With a sigh, he pulled out of the company parking lot and turned left toward the gas station, where he would usually turn right.

As he opened up the cap to put the gas in, he sighed again. It occured to him that he did that more and more these days. His life seemed to be becoming one big sigh. The pump clicked, he replaced the handle, and headed inside. What was going to change? Something had to change, something had to give. But what? He had an okay job, and couldn't hope to get anything better. He was tired of being average, tired of being lost in the crowd, just another face among faces. He was so tired of being nobody, nothing.

With that thought lingering in his mind, along with a solidifying resolution to make something in his life different, that he entered into the convenience store. As the clerk rang up his charges for fuel, he stared blankly at a poster.

"Would you like a ticket, sir?"
"Huh?" Chris shook his head and refocused on the clerk.
"A lottery ticket...I thought that's what you were looking at. The jackpot has never gotten to 150 million, but they think it might get there before the drawing tonight. Would you like a ticket?"
"No, no thanks. Just the gas"
"35.47"
Chris swiped his card, signed the tablet, and walked back to his car. As he slid the shifter into drive, he sighed once again. Something had to change. HE had to change. Then an idea hit him. There was a five dollar bill in the cash tray that he had kept in case of emergency. He pulled forward into a parking spot, and walked back into the store.
"On second thought, give me two. Who knows, right?"
The kid behind the counter smiled. "Yep, who knows?"