Jackpot

Edna looked down at the lottery ticket and then at the boy who gave it to her.

"Bye, Hal," she said the customer who was leaving and then returned her attention to the ticket.

She looked at the boy.

"What do we have here, Greg Samson? Hmm?"

The boy looked down at his shoes, arms at his back, swayed side to side.

"A lottery ticket, ma'am."

"I can see that. You're a little too young to be having one though, aren't you?"

"It's my mum's."

"Is it now?" Edna examined the ticket. Small flecks of correction fluid covered some of the original numbers and new ones were written on in neat block writing. Holding it to the light, she could see the covered numbers.

"Not bad, Greg. But you know when I scan this into the machine, the numbers still have to match, right?"

She squinted at the ticket, didn't hear an answer.

"Greg?" she said, but he was gone.