Saturday, November 14, 2009

Week 43, Day 300 - "Winning The Lottery"

“Winning The Lottery”

Written by Joe Janes

11/14/09

300 of 365

Cast:

Dean, 70s

Esther, 4os

(Lights up on Esther behind the counter at a convenience store. Dean enters.)

ESTHER

Hey, Dean.

DEAN

Goody good morning to you, Esther.

ESTHER

Goody good noon to you, Dean.

(Dean looks at his watch.)

DEAN

Where does the day go?

(He looks at her for an answer. After a pause, she shrugs.)

ESTHER

Coffee and the lotto?

DEAN

Yep. The usual, barkeep.

(Esther pours him a cup of coffee and is about to get him a lotto ticket.)

ESTHER

Dean, what are you going to do if you win?

DEAN

If I win? You mean, when I win.

ESTHER

Not to be a balloon buster, Dean, but you’ve been playing the same numbers everyday for years and you’ve never won anything.

DEAN

Every dog has his day. And some day, this dog will have his day. Woof!

ESTHER

Dean, I’m just saying. All the money you spend on the lottery, you could have just bought something by now.

DEAN

Save it and spend it? Winning’s more fun.

ESTHER

Yes, it is. If you win.

(She hands him the coffee.)

DEAN

I play for fun.

ESTHER

How can never winning be any fun? I think you have some kind of addiction or something. You’re a gambler.

DEAN

It’s only a buck.

ESTHER

A buck a day. For over a decade. That’s…four or five thousand dollars.

DEAN

But if I win, it could be millions.

ESTHER

What would happen if you didn’t play today? Just take your coffee and walk away.

(Dean looks very concerned.)

DEAN

I’ve played for so long. Just the laws of the universe dictate that my numbers are close to coming up. I can’t stop playing. The day I don’t put down a buck is the day my numbers come up. I don’t want my numbers coming up and me holding my wiener instead of a winning ticket.

ESTHER

Tell you what. You keep your dollar, don’t buy the ticket and, if it wins, I’ll pay you a million dollars.

DEAN

You don’t have a million dollars.

ESTHER

Neither of us do and neither of us ever will throwing good money down the lottery drain.

DEAN

You don’t know that. Somebody has to win. There’s always a winner. May as well be me, Esther. May as well be me. Now, you give me my ticket.

ESTHER

Okay, Dean. Okay. (She punches in his numbers into the machine.) Don’t get your panties in a bunch. Here. One dollar.

(She hands it to him and he gives her a dollar.)

DEAN

I’m going to buy a new truck. A real nice one. With multiple cup holders. And I’ll take my dog Barney to the marsh and let him run around. He’s getting’ up there and deserves to run around and chase some rabbits. If there’s anything left, I don’t know. Maybe I’ll buy you a truck, too.

(He exits. Esther punches numbers into the machine and takes the ticket. She throws a dollar into a cash drawer.)

ESTHER

Somebody has to win.

(Blackout)

3 comments:

Alisa said...

Somebody does have to win, but with millions of odds, are there a million days in a person's life in which to buy lottery tickets? Here is a photo taken at a lottery promotion at a convenient store in Uptown a few year's back.

http://s185.photobucket.com/albums/x165/lebakoji/?action=view&current=playershavemorefun.jpg

Joe Janes said...

Great picture. Nice mix of sadness and humiliation.

Alisa said...

thanks, and true, i think that's what his expression said along with "maybe i'm not being paid enough to wear this seven ball, even if seven is supposed to be a lucky number."