Kyle's unearthed goldmine

Kyle Hughes the millionaire

Kyle’s jaw dropped, eyes widening in disbelief, as if a sudden jolt of electricity had coursed through his veins leaving him momentarily stunned. He proceeded to read the text message again, this time more carefully.

“Congratulations Mr Kyle Hughes. You have been shortlisted as one of the winners of our BrooksMillions weekly lottery. Please contact the number below for more information on how to redeem your $1,000,000 reward. Cheers!”

“$1,000,000? How? BrooksMillions? Where?” Kyle had many questions but there was no one to answer him. He read the text message time and again and still could not believe he was now $1,000,000 richer.

For a poor boy who was still trying to get his life together, $1,000,000 is a lot of money.

He wanted to call the provided number but he decided to wait until the next morning to do that as it was already late and it would be unwise to call anyone at that time of the day.

“With this money I can set myself up and start afresh. I can invest into a big business and in no time I will become wealthy. This is good news. Callum and Nathan will be really happy to hear this. I will show them this text message once it’s daybreak.

Kyle couldn't contain his excitement. Unconsciously, he yelled “I am rich!” 

His noise woke Callum and Nathan who weren’t sure of what they heard. They just heard him yell and were worried.

“Hey Kyle. What’s the matter this time?” Nathan asked.

“Your noise disrupted my peaceful sleep,” Callum complained.

“You won’t believe this, guys. You definitely won’t believe this,” Kyle started happily, passing his phone to Callum with the text message open. Nathan also turned to see the message and suddenly the room was lit up with excitement.

“Well that’s new,” Callum started.

“Wow! Congratulations Kyle. This is huge.” Nathan exclaimed.

“Really huge, Kyle. This is the big time.” Callum added. 

“Let’s keep our voices low. Most people in the dorm are asleep,” Kyle cautioned.

“Maybe Dorothy was the problem after all,” he added, smiling toothily. 

“Now let’s all go back to sleep. Tomorrow is a huge day for us,” Callum advised.

Nathan and Kyle nodded in agreement and they all went to bed. 

“Beep! beep!! Beep!!!” Kyle’s repeating alarm went off. He’s never slept so soundly in years. 

Despite sleeping for a long time, he was still suffering from the previous day’s events. He turned and turned but eventually gave in. He had to be in class in the next hour or he’ll face disciplinary action as he’s been warned severally against lateness

Kyle’s frequent lateness isn’t because he lacks the right attitude towards learning but rather because he’s always out late trying to make ends meet with menial jobs.

This particular morning, Kyle has to defy all odds and get to class before the professor else his final year project won’t be approved and that’s a nightmare for any final year student in Beckerley University.

In a matter of minutes, Kyle got dressed and headed out of the dorm straight to the lecture room. As he approached the academic area, he kept on practising how to develop a thick skin and turn a deaf ear to whatever it is the jesters had in store for him.

His ears caught wind of people talking about him as he walked along the footpath but he just ignored them as they were whispers and nothing more.

Kyle arrived in class to a hostile reception.

“Here comes poor ol’ Kyle Hughes,” one of Kyle’s course mates announced.

“First time being someone’s ex-girlfriend, eh?” another remarked.

”Beth Aarons was never yours,” another added.

Kyle was really running out of patience but he knows better than to engage in any physical confrontation as Beckerley University frowns at misconduct and as a final year student, getting into trouble is the last thing he’d like to get involved in.

He was soon given a breather as the professor entered the lecture room and was warmly welcomed by the students.

“Who am I seeing in class this early?” he asked, looking directly at Kyle.

Ï bet you must have sacrificed some bucks in order to make it down here this early,” he added.

Kyle nodded and faked a smile. All he wanted was to get the professor’s signature on his project and that’s it.

After a couple of exchanges between Kyle and the professor, Kyle’s project was rejected. His last task as a student of Beckerley University is still not done but he wasn’t fazed. He was more concerned about redeeming his $1,000,000 prize. He rushed out of the lecture room and found a place quiet enough for him to make a call. 

He brought out his phone and hurriedly dialled the number included in the text message he received earlier. At first there was no response but at the second attempt a lady supposedly in her late 20s answered the call.

“Hello, this is Eden Miller from BrooksMillions. How may I be of help today?”

“Hello, I’m Kyle Hughes. I received a text message last night stating that I won $100,000 in your weekly lottery. I was instructed to call this number to claim my prize and that’s what I’m doing now,” Kyle replied.

“Congratulations once again Mr Hughes. You’re right on track to claim your prize. An address will be sent to you now. Please come down there by 9am tomorrow for the signing and media rounds. This call was necessary to validate your claim and now you have done that. Congratulations again and have a nice day, Mr Hughes,” Mrs Miller returned.

“Thank you so much Mrs Miller. I will do just as you have instructed. Have a nice day too,” Kyle responded with a large smile on his face and ended the call.

At first Kyle had some doubts about the authenticity of the lottery but now it’s all confirmed. He looked up BrooksMillions on the internet and it returned an impressive output. He spent the rest of the day fantasizing and planning how to spend the money wisely.

“Now I am rich. My days of suffering are now over,” he said repeatedly.