Winning a Lucky Draw

          It had been an uneventful day at school. Nothing exciting ever happened to Jamie. She had listened to her teacher, completed all her work, played basketball with her friends after school and bought an ice cream on her way home. Opening the letterbox like she always did after school, she took out the pile of letters and went through them.

 

          She had just stepped into her house when she saw her name printed in nondescript letters on one of the envelopes. She was so excited that she almost dropped everything, including her melting ice cream. Tossing the other letters on the dining table, she tore open the envelope that belonged to her. A piece of paper with red and gold letterhead stared back at her. She could not believe her eyes. It was from the company that she had purchased a mobile phone earlier.

 

          “Congratulations!” it said. “You are the winner of our lucky draw. You have won the latest Compact Pentium 7 laptop.” There was a picture of the laptop in the letter along with the other items that came with it such as a free bag, a thumb drive, a mouse and an SD card.

 

          Jamie blinked and pinched herself just to make sure that she was not dreaming. She had never won anything in her life. She imagined herself going on stage to shake the hands of the director of the company as he gave her the prize. All around her would be reporters taking photographs and waiting to interview her.

 

          Jamie was startled out of her reverie just as her parents returned home. She showed them the letter excitedly. They were equally surprised and were glad for her. Jamie had been asking for her own laptop for the past few months. Now, she would not have to wait for her parents to save enough money to buy her one.

 

          Jamie clutched the letter excitedly in her hands. She could not wait for the next day. Her parents promised to take her to collect the prize after school. Clearing her table, she created an empty space where she would put the laptop when she collected it.

 

359 words